The Braves have dealt with injuries this year and have also seen major regression from several key players, resulting in their worst start to a season in the better part of a decade.

The Braves only recently got superstar outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. back from the torn ACL injury he suffered last year, and former MLB veteran Carlos Pena recently floated the idea of the Braves trading the star and starting out fresh, per MLB Now on X, formerly Twitter.

One person not onboard with that idea is Braves beat reporter David O’Brien of The Athletic, who took to his own X account to shoot down the notion.

“Trading Acuña would be arguably the dumbest thing the #Braves could do,” he wrote. “Too wildly popular and entertaining. Too good. A large segment of the fan base would *never* forgive them if they did that. You don’t trade Chipper (Jones), you don’t trade Acuña.”

Indeed, trading Ronald Acuna Jr. would likely be a very tough sell for a Braves fanbase that is growing more and more restless by the day.

A rough season for the Braves

The Braves still haven’t won a playoff series since their 2021 World Series victory vs the Houston Astros, and it’s not looking particularly likely that the streak will be broken this year

Atlanta is on track to lose the NL East for the second year in a row after winning the division every season from 2018-2024, and it’s certainly possible that the Braves miss the playoffs altogether this season.

Of course, there is still plenty of time to turn things around, and the Braves weren’t looking particularly hot at this point in 2021 before they suddenly got hot at the right time and went on to win it all.

However, such a prospect isn’t looking terribly likely at the present juncture.