Ronald Acua Jr. won't admit harsh truth Braves fans need to know about his future

Ronald Acua Jr. was MLB’s Comeback Player of the Year in the National League in 2025, and for good reason. The former NL MVP was coming off a season-ending ACL injury, the second of his career, and still had a 3.0 WAR and 163 OPS+.

What Acua won’t admit is that despite his desire to remain a Brave for the rest of his career, those same injuries could keep him from another extension. Acua Jr. is signed through the 2028 season with two favorable club options coming up after this year. When asked by a Braves fan on social media about his future, Acua Jr. said he doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

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Can Ronald Acua Jr. retire with the Braves?

Acua Jr. signed his last Braves contract when he was just a kid in baseball terms. The eight-year, $100 million price tag looked like a lot of money back then. Little did he know it’d become a bargain for the Braves, rather than the player. Acua Jr.’s contract will pay him $17 million in 2026, 2027 and 2028. That’s not nothing, but is also about half of what he’d earn on the open market.

It is helpful that Acua Jr. wants to stay in Atlanta, especially after previous comments made it less clear if he’d be willing to play out his contract. Just this season, MLB Network analyst Carlos Pea suggested the Braves should try and find a trade partner for Acua Jr., which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense based on the financial motivation we just mentioned.

“I would definitely entertain that, if. were the Braves,” said Pena. “If I’m another team trying to acquire a player that’s going to make a difference immediately, granted if he’s healthy, you see what [Acua] is capable of doing. Coming in the limelight, coming in the postseason, he would be a difference maker. And that’s the carrot that I’m dangling in front of any team to see if I can get back a pretty big haul. I would certainly entertain that.”

Acua Jr. won’t be traded anytime soon, as his trade value isn’t as high as it once was given the number of injury concerns he’s faced, including two ACL issues. He remains a productive player and one of the best corner outfielders in MLB, but the Braves shouldn’t consider trading him elsewhere…yet. As for his next contract, that’s a different question, and will likely determine whether Acua can actually end his career where he started it.

If the Braves won’t trade Ronald Acua Jr., will they extend him?

Ronald Acua Jr. won't admit harsh truth Braves fans need to know about his future — Pittsburgh Pirates v Atlanta Braves | Edward M. Pio Roda/GettyImages

By the time Acua Jr.’s deal expires, he’ll be over 30 years old. It’d be wise if his representation sought out another team-friendly extension ahead of time that pays Acua his worth, but perhaps doesn’t ask for as long of a term. A five-or-six-year deal at this point in Acua Jr.’s career works for both sides, and the Braves can afford to pay him more than $17 million AAV. Alex Anthopoulos is too smart to give Acua Jr. a loaded 10-year contract that pays him far too much money at the back end of his career while the Braves are still trying to compete.

However, a shorter extension would play well with the fanbase – and the Braves are expected to field a top-5 payroll heading into next season, per the team’s chairman – and it would also avoid a major headache down the road. Remember, it was just a couple of winters ago that Atlanta let Freddie Freeman walk to the Los Angeles Dodgers after they had just defeated them in the National League postseason. Do they really want a repeat of that painful divorce?

In the case of Acua, they’d have a bit more leverage since he’s underpaid and seemingly in a rush for a new deal that provides him with a little more up-front value. However, even if they do extend Acua, it likely won’t be the last contract he receives in what’s expected to be a long, illustrious career. Thus, yes, Acua Jr. can take one step closer to ending his career with the Braves, but it’ll take a painful back and forth (at some point) to achieve that goal down the line.