The Atlanta Braves’ 2025 season could not have been more of a disaster. The team is currently 39-46 on the year as of July 3 and are 6.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card spot. That is due in part to the multitude of injuries the team has dealt with, including to Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Schawver.
It now has led the fanbase being subjected to trade rumors, which is a far cry from the team being consistent World Series contenders, especially after winning it all in 2021. Perhaps worst of all, they are now dealing with Ronald Acuña Jr.
During a recent episode of MLB Network’s “MLB Now,” MLB insider Joel Sherman former Athletics and Rays player Carlos Pena both made the case for the Braves should entertain trading Acuña at the trade deadline.
“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 [Acuña] 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.”
Talk of trading away your franchise superstar will never go over well with the team’s fanbase. Just ask the Boston Red Sox after they traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. But all of this could have been avoided by the Braves.
Ronald Acuña Jr. trade rumors could all have been avoided by Braves
The Braves were viewed as the gold standard for how to build a team. Call up your top prospects early and sign them early if they make immediate impacts. They did so with Acuña, Michael Harris II, and Spencer Strider. For the most part, it paid off.
But there have been moments when the Braves gambled on themselves, and lost out. There was the decision immediately after winning the World Series to let long-time first baseman Freddie Freeman walk in free agency and replace him with Matt Olson.
Olson is a good player, don’t get us wrong, but Freeman has shown he can still be a difference maker after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Let’s not forget, he won a World Series title last year, where he notably hit a Game 1 walk-off grand slam and won the MVP Award for the series.
Even this past winter, the Braves decided to let Max Fried walk after being unable to come to terms on a contract extension.
The belief was they could count on Sale and a returning Spencer Strider, while relying on their younger pitchers. Meanwhile, Fried is one of the best pitchers in baseball, where he owns a 2.13 ERA, a 0.939 WHIP, and a major-league best 10 wins in 18 starts with the New York Yankees. As you can now see, the Braves’ rotation is destroyed by injuries.
Current Braves regime deserves blame for wasted season, too
Of course, plenty of blame can be placed on manager Brian Snitker. Yes, he did bring them to a World Series title in 2021, but the team hasn’t won a playoff series since. Even with this season spiraling out of control, it seems like the Braves are going to let Snitker finish things up so he can retire as manager at the end of the year.
The Braves simply shouldn’t be bad this year. Yet, even before all of their injuries, the team was struggling. It’s just been a situation where everything that possibly could go wrong, has gone wrong for the Braves. Now, fans will have to wait and see if the Braves will do anything to signal a sell-off at the trade deadline. Oh, and endless talk about the team possibly trading Acuña.
Should the Braves trade Acuña? No. But the talk is going to dominate baseball shows in the coming weeks.
