What a hitter
I need some help here, because I pray the Braves are not going to waste the unlimited potential of the best young player this franchise has produced since some skinny kid with quick wrists named Henry was moved from second base to the outfield.
Yes, Ronald Acuña is better than a young Andruw Jones. Yes, he’s better than young Tom Glavine. Yes, he’s better than, pick a name that was a Braves farmhand before becoming a Braves legend.
In fact there are only two that come close. There’s the above reference to all-timer Hank Aaron. The other was former No. 1 overall pick Chipper Jones.
Let’s compare the starts to those seasons with this caveat: Acuña is in his fourth season as a pro, but has played 346 games because of a late start as a rookie and last year’s COVID-shortened slate, which equates to being a month into his third season.
We’ll try to get as close in terms of games played because we can’t go back and match exact numbers.
Aaron made his MLB debut at 20 and in his first three seasons and played 428 games and hit 66 homers with 267 RBIs, 266 runs scored, with seven steals and hit .310 (520-for-1,679). He made two all-star teams and finished in the top 12 MVP voting twice in those three years and fourth in Rookie of the Year.
Chipper made his MLB debut at 21 and in his first three years that included eight games in 1993 and a vacated 1994 because of a knee injury and played 305 games and hit 53 homers with 196 RBIs, 203 runs scored with 22 steals and hit .290 (326-for-1,125). He made one all-star team, finished top 12 in the MVP voting once and was Rookie of the Year runner-up. (He was jobbed by Nomo.)
Acuña made his debut at 20 and in these 346 games to date, he has hit 92 homers – including a rocket shot last night – with 217 RBIs, 283 runs scored and 67 steals and hit .283 (380-for-1,341). He has made one all-star team (and this year is a dunk) and been a top-12 MVP finisher three times and won Rookie of the Year.
Yeah, he’s special.
And he also is especially affordable considering he’s on an all-time trajectory at a price that is borderline obscene.
OK, Fernando Tatis is a great player and the Padres just paid him like a great player. Earlier this year, San Diego gave Tatis a 14-year, $340 million contract. Acuña’s deal with the Braves – with the two-year club option that the team will 1000% exercise – is 10 years, $124 million.
So Acuña is getting an average of $12.4 million from now through 2028. By comparison, here are some salary numbers:
> The top-paid player in the game is justifiably Mike Trout, who makes three times what Ronald does ($37.1 million to Acuña’s $12.4 million average over the lifetime of the deal);
> Bryce Harper is the highest paid right fielder in the game at $27.54 million. Acuña’s average salary is somewhere between Nick Castellanos’ $14 million and Michael Conforto’s $12.25 million. Seriously.
> Because the deal actually escalates through the life of the contract, Acuña is making $5 million this year, which means he’s tied with Robbie Grossman as the 48th highest-paid outfielder in the majors this year and the third highest-paid outfielder on his own team this year. Think about that.
And the Braves have every look of a franchise that is going to waste his talents and cash in on his greatness.
We’re back to the bullpen being a room full of hot garbage.
The questions about the rotation are not going to be answered with spots starts by Bryce Wilson.
Tell me they’re going to get my man some help. Please. Heck lie to me if you need to.