The Atlanta Braves won a big won Wednesday night, with the offense exploding in the 6th inning vs the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with a 3-run homerun by Sean Murphy, and a Grand Slam by Matt Olson. Jurickson Profar would follow up the offensive barrage with a solo shot in the 8th in his return off of an 80-game suspension. The Braves did get the unfortunate news of Spencer Schwellenbach hitting the 15-day IL with a fractured elbow that will probably keep him sidelined until September. It has been a rough season for the Braves that has seen the pitching staff carry the team as much as they can, then as the offense starts heating up for the team to make a run, the rotation gets dealt three major blows, as A.J. Smith-Shawver, Chris Sale, and Spencer Schwellenbach all go down for extended amounts of time.
A season like this always raises questions as the trade deadline approaches, as everyone wants to know of a team will be “buyers” or “sellers”. For all we know, the Braves could end up being “sellers”, meaning that they trade certain players that may be on expiring contracts for prospects or players with team friendly contracts. One of the “hot-take” scenarios that has been floated around is the possibility of the Braves trading Ranald Acuña Jr. I understand that radio and television programs have to have something to talk and write about, and that theoretical trade scenarios like this will get several clicks, especially if you give said article or conversation a catchy headline. But this trade scenario, regardless of what is being offered, is completely asinine. Not only is Acuña Jr. on a super team-friendly deal, with options through the 2028 season, but he is one of the best three players in the entire league. How do you trade that? Better yet, what does a team give up? No team can afford what the Braves would be asking for one of the best players in the league, and Ronald Acuña Jr.
actually wants to play in Atlanta, so him requesting a trade will not happen.
There are questions of a well-deserved contract extension, which will likely happen, and that will only help cement Acuña Jr. in Atlanta for a longer amount of time. Stop it with absurdities like this, and present the people with thought-provoking, but REALISTIC conversation. Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael explore the Braves tumultuous season a bit further, and touch on what may be the worst ho-take of 2025.