MLB
K Is For Keuchel
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves’ big-ticket item has arrived. Former Cy Young award winner, Dallas Keuchel made his debut on the road in our nation’s capital.
For months, Braves Country clamored for a big signing. The bullpen was the primary focus of grief and most would have assumed that Atlanta would go after former Brave Craig Kimbrel.
However, it was starter Keuchel. In truth, his arrival comes at an opportune time, the same time as Kevin Gausman’s fairly epic fall from grace (his placement on the Injured List seems less like a physical injury concern and more like making room for someone who’s going to hopefully win more games).
On the other hand, Gausman’s poor performance may have quickened the pace at which Keuchel was brought up to the big-league team. Regardless, after two minor league starts, Keuchel was called up and put on the mound against a division rival.
And it went…pretty well, actually. Keuchel took the loss in a 4-3 game against the Nationals, but it was a pretty promising outing.
Yes, he gave up four runs over the course of five innings, but only three of those runs were earned and that’s good enough to win most games.
Given the Braves recent average of over seven runs per game, allowing three or four runs is actually giving the team a great chance at a victory.
Beyond that, Keuchel also impressed with three strikeouts and – most importantly – no walks.
For a guy making his third professional appearance of the season, that kind of control is a joyous surprise. It’s also indicative of Keuchel’s renowned skills. Not an overpowering pitcher, he won his Cy Young and had a great 2018 season because he can locate the ball. To see him demonstrate that same skill this early in tenure is a very good sign.
And we can’t overlook how early it is. Obviously, the guy is a professional athlete and he clearly spent his unemployment time doing workouts and staying in shape, but Spring Training exists for a reason. Pitchers need time to recalibrate and stretch out.
The stretching out doesn’t seem as necessary as he’s thrown about 100 pitchers per start, but the point remains that he’s not even in midseason form and he’s still keeping his team in the game against rosters that are.
So, looking ahead, the Braves have found themselves a piece that should be able to help them hold onto first place into the National League East.
All in all, the addition of Dallas Keuchel is something to be excited about for Braves Country. It isn’t the return of a prodigal son, as signing Kimbrel would have been, but a starter is going to pitch far more innings and have a bigger impact if the Braves can hang on and make it to the postseason (where Keuchel has performed and won a ring).
This is going to be a huge get for Atlanta.
Tomahawkin
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves have been scorching hot lately. They leapfrogged the Phillies to take sole possession of first place in the National League East.
With the All-Star Break rapidly approaching, the Braves appear to be positioning themselves well to go into the second half as the team on top and that might mean that General Manager Alex Anthopoulos may be able to make moves (on top of the Dallas Keuchel signing) before the trade deadline to bolster some of the weak spots on the roster.
That being said, let’s take a brief look at some of the things that have led the Braves into first place, as well as a few things that need improvement.
The Really Good:
Austin Riley – It’s not a coincidence that Riley’s promotion to the big leagues proceeded the Braves rise to the top of the heap.
Riley has been beyond exceptional for Atlanta, not just hitting the ball out of the yard but also coming up with clutch hits and playing better left field than a third baseman has any right to.
Nearly the rest of the lineup, for the most part, has been roaring during this surge. Ozzie Albies has found his stroke, Freddie Freeman is putting up MVP-type numbers, Dansby Swanson and Ronald Acuna have been consistent (Acuna loves that leadoff spot), and the catching platoon has been reminiscent of the Flowers/Suzuki platoon a few years ago.
Mike Soroka – The undisputed ace of the staff in 2019, picked up right where he left off in 2018. He has a razor-thin ERA and composure on the mound far exceeding his years. With Keuchel as an unknown factor at the moment, Soroka starts Game 1 of the playoffs for this team.
Julio Teheran – To the surprise of many (myself included – see my unflattering and now-proven-wrong article about Julio from the end of March), Julio Teheran has recaptured the magic that caused the Braves to extend him years ago. He’s been more reliable than Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman, stepping up as the veteran presence in a young rotation.
Luke Jackson – A relief pitcher? Yes. Jackson opened up the season with an atrocious showing, but has since taken over the closer role and has been a solid – if imperfect – piece to close out Atlanta’s victories in 2019.
The Not So Good:
Josh Donaldson – The Bringer of Rain has managed to hit 10 homeruns and has a surprisingly robust batting average with runners in scoring position, but he has failed to earn the $23 million the Braves gave him during the offseason.
It’s unlikely the Braves will find a trade partner for the veteran, but with Riley’s emergence it seems like that Donaldson’s tenure in Atlanta will not span past one season.
Folty and Gausman – The two steadiest presences in the rotation in 2018 were both injured during Spring Training and neither seems to have come back quite right.
Gausman hit the Injured List, and with Keuchel waiting in the wings he may have made his last start for the year.
The Rest of the Bullpen – I know it. You know it. Let’s move on.
I’ll do the math for you, there’s more good than bad on the team right now.
Plus, the weaker points can be improved: Keuchel for Gausman is sure to be an upgrade, and the party line for months has been that Anthopoulos will make moves if the Braves are contending and first place is certainly contending.
If things continue as they are or improve even slightly, Braves Country is in for a great second half.
Field Of Dreams
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Premier Academy phenom Daniel Espino achieved the goal of a lifetime’s worth of work as the flame throwing pitcher was selected by the Cleveland Indians with the 24th pick in the first round of Major League Baseball’s draft last week.
A member of the Georgia Premier Academy for the last three seasons, Espino blossomed into one of the best professional prospects – at the high school or collegiate level – in the country.
He was rated by Baseball America as the best prep pitcher in the nation last summer and he is certainly still the hardest throwing after being clocked at 99 miles per hour at a Perfect Game showcase at Wrigley Field last summer.
A dominant showing by Espino during GPA’s spring season made sure that he was on the radar of every team and it was the Indians that finally called out his number.
“It was such a great feeling – I can’t even describe it,” Espino said. “This is what I’ve dreamed about. It’s been crazy the last few days, but that’s a moment I’ll remember forever.”
The moment was especially memorable for Espino, not so much because of the new members of the Indians’ organization that will be coming into his life, but because of the old members of his journey to the draft that were there to share in the celebration.
Espino grew up in Panama before leaving his home country behind in search of better chances to develop as a player in the United States.
He has only seen his family sporadically over the last few years, but everyone was on hand for his graduation from Bulloch Academy before joining him on his journey to New York for the draft.
“Everything is more special because I get to share it with my family,” Espino said. “They’ve supported me and encouraged me the whole time. They’ve also helped to keep everything calm leading up to (the draft). To be able to tell my mom and dad that I had been picked and to be able to hug them – that was very special for me.”
All of the hype that has surrounded Espino for the last two seasons will only grow now that he is a first-round selection, but the next step for him is still uncertain.
Joining the Indians will likely come with a big signing bonus and plenty of support from the organization to give their top pick a good path to the big leagues.
On the other hand, Espino and his family also value education and he has already locked down a scholarship to play at LSU next spring if he chooses to go to college before turning pro.
“I’ll be making a decision pretty soon,” Espino said. “I see it as a win-win. I like what I’ve seen from Cleveland’s organization and it’s obviously great to be able to start a professional career. But LSU is also a great school with a great team and coaches that I like.
“God has it all planned out. I know that it’s going to be great.”
Help Is Here
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the biggest stories in baseball through the first two months of the 2019 season was that of the unemployed: Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel.
They were linked to almost every team under the sun. I, myself, wrote about the need to have Kimbrel rejoin the Braves and help shore up their bullpen just a few weeks ago.
Eventually it became clear that both pitchers would have to wait until after the MLB Draft to find gainful employment for the rest of the season. After that event, teams that sign either player neither have to give up a draft pick nor would they be required to extend qualifying offers if the free agents leave at the end of this year.
So, the draft has come and gone and Kimbrel and Keuchel were snatched up quickly. Kimbrel, a former Atlanta Brave, was desired by most fans. However, he inked a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs (allegedly the Braves didn’t want to sign him for three years, despite that being half the time he reportedly asked for during the offseason).
But the Braves didn’t sit idly by, inking Keuchel to a one-year, $13 million deal to join their starting rotation.
It was somewhat of a surprise, as the Yankees were in on the lefty as well. He must have really not wanted to shave his beard. It’s also possible that Keuchel wanted to work with Brian McCann again after a successful run with the backstop in Houston (we’ll see if Mac is assigned a majority of Keuchel’s games). Maybe he likes muggy summers. Whatever the reasons, Keuchel has the potential to be a big boost to the Braves postseason dreams.
Yes, Keuchel is 31 and is a few years removed from his Cy Young-winning peak, but he has plenty to offer, including being a fiery veteran in the clubhouse (perhaps a good balance to the quiet leader in Nick Markakis).
His experience also comes with four, count ‘em, four, postseason victories on his resume. That will come in handy if the Braves find themselves in the playoffs for a second year in a row.
Some of the young pitchers made appearances in the Division Series against Los Angeles, but they lacked effectiveness at the most important stage of the year. Mike Foltynewicz, a fiery competitor himself, notably melted down during Game 1 last October.
Keuchel will have the opportunity to serve as a steady hand (a hand that has a ring, mind you) on the national stage.
At the end of the day, Keuchel makes the rotation better at a fairly low cost and no cost in prospects.
He won’t need to be 2015 Dallas Keuchel to be a worthy addition to the team. Mike Soroka has essentially forced himself into the team’s number one, and Julio Teheran has looked like he might turn in a very solid season. Folty has shown signs of finally shaking his rust after a late start to the season and Max Fried is tied for the team wins with 7 (with Soroka).
Perhaps the most specific impact Keuchel might have would be to displace Kevin Gausman. Gausman just hasn’t been able to replicate the great success he had as a Brave last season after a midseason trade from the Baltimore Orioles.
Every time it looks like he’s on track, the next game (or even inning) gets away from him. I’m not sure what the Braves could do with him, contractually speaking, but all signs point to him being the odd man out once Keuchel makes a few starts in the minor leagues and gets ready to join the big club.
In any case, Keuchel, assuming health and the absence of a complete breakdown, can only help the team. We’ll be seeing him with a tomahawk on his chest soon.
Young Guns
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Going into Spring Training, the Atlanta Braves felt like they had two strong anchors in their starting rotation in Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman.
Both guys had a few years in the bigs under their belts and both had successful campaigns in 2018. Gausman’s success coming after he was traded to Dixie from the Baltimore Orioles, in particular.
It was the rest of the rotation that was covered in question marks. The loss of Anibal Sanchez to Sean Newcomb’s second half crash to the ever-changing consistency of Julio Teheran, the starting corps was less of a strength and more of a potential strength.
The talent was there. The Braves had built up a mountain of wealth in the arms department but there was no track record because a few flashes of brilliance from most of the prospects.
So, there was reasonable concern when both Folty and Gausman couldn’t make it to the finish line of Spring Training healthy. These were the guys Atlanta needed to lean on while the prospects and younger arms of the rotation were put to the test.
Flash forward to the June 1st, the season is two-thirds of the way done, and the Braves have two strong anchors in their rotation: but the twist is that the anchors are two of those same prospects the Braves weren’t sure they could count on in March.
Mike Soroka and Max Fried have been the stalwart performers of Atlanta’s starting rotation in 2019, leading the team in earned run average and wins, respectively, and each of them rank second in the category they aren’t leading in.
In fact, the question marks surround Folty and Gausman, who both returned from the Injured List and have been inconsistent at best (Gausman, for the most part) or just bad at worst (Folty, for the most part). They haven’t been able to secure wins for their team, going 3-8 collectively, and neither can boast an ERA under 5.50.
If there’s good news among the bad, it’s that both are talented enough to break out of these funks. In fact, both have had recent games that looked like a turnaround point only to have poor outings the following turn.
Soroka and Fried, on the other hand, have been consistently great. Fried has kept Atlanta in pretty much every game he’s started, as his 7 wins show. Finally, getting a chance to stick in the rotation (he made a total of 9 starts out of 23 appearances over the past two seasons), Fried is showing why the Braves coveted him so much when they traded Justin Upton to San Diego for him in December of 2014.
Soroka has been a revelation; picking up from where he left off last season before he got hurt and proving that he’s got the moxie to be a top starter even at the age of 21.
Soroka has been so good since joining the rotation that when he went eight innings in San Francisco against the Giants last month and only gave up one run, his ERA actually went up.
The kicker is that the last piece of the rotation puzzle, Julio Teheran, has actually been pretty good this year as well. He may have finally settled into the middle-of-the-rotation guy he was probably always destined to be anyway.
What this all amounts to is this: if (when?) Folty and Gausman figure it out, the Braves rotation will be among the most formidable quintet in the game today. And that’s thanks in large part to the teams two studs: Mike Soroka and Max Fried.
Swing For The Fence
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Despite a division title defense that hasn’t quite gone as expected so far and a few glaring issues that cause fans stress on a nightly basis, the Atlanta Braves are still in a great spot to build off of last year’s surprise playoff appearance.
In fact, the Braves and their fans should buckle up right now and take their best shot at the ultimate goal of winning a World Series.
While the Braves have a lot of pieces in place at the major league level and figure to have more coming up the pipeline in the near future, it’s important for the franchise to realize that this isn’t the same game that allowed it to win division titles for the better part of two decades.
Major League Baseball is now a game of windows when it comes to competing for a world title, and although the Braves aren’t even two years removed from wallowing at the bottom of their division, right now is the right time to strike while the iron is hot.
Atlanta already has a lineup that consists of a guy on track for Cooperstown in Freddie Freeman. Ronald Acuna has gone from runaway Rookie of the Year winner to serious MVP candidate and Dansby Swanson is starting to look more and more like a former overall No. 1 draft pick with each passing day. And now the last two weeks have seen the rise of Austin Riley.
Of course, it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for Atlanta. The Braves’ bullpen was a huge question mark entering the season and has done little to make any fan comfortable with any late lead.
The starting rotation has also been in flux as Sean Newcomb is nothing like his 2018 self and Mike Foltynewicz isn’t putting up anything close to the ‘ace’ numbers that had him at the top of the rotation in the spring.
A couple of decades ago, this would have been the recipe that called for the Braves to hold tight, continuing to develop all of the currently excelling talent while trusting that other proven commodities would either return to form or eventually be replaced by guys in the minors.
That’s not how things are done anymore. The Braves have a lineup that can do damage against the current MLB pitching staffs that can roll out one flamethrower after the next. And – on the right day – the squad also has enough arms to shut down the better teams in the league.
This is where the front office has to believe in itself and let loose all of its power to make the Braves a World Series contender. The should make a few deals to solidify the pitching staff. Fast-track a prospect or two in order to make sure that the end of the bench and bullpen is good enough to steal a win here and there.
Like it or not, there is no place in the current state of MLB for crafting a model that results in over a decade of division championships. In the current league setup, you’re either contending for a World Series title, or you’re bottoming out at the major league level while stocking up in the minors.
The teams that win 70-80 games are getting nothing in terms of postseason action and are put behind the 8-ball in terms of gaining new prospects by picking later in the draft.
The Braves are in danger of falling into that unproductive middle if the status quo continues. They’re far too talented and young to be a team that is undergoing a rebuild. So, it’s time to lean on the strategy that has produced so much success from Riley over the last couple of weeks.
Hit the gas pedal. Do whatever is necessary to find all of those extra wins over the next four months. The iron is hot, but you still have to strike it.
Not Going Back
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves are, unsurprisingly, leaning on youth to win ballgames during the first half of the season.
The young pitching that has been so highly touted for the past several years has shown up and produced, with Mike Soroka the undisputed ace of the team and Max Fried leading the squad in wins after nearly two months. That is to be expected, with the hype that surrounded those two and their fellow pitching prospects.
However, with all the focus and fanfare surround the young arms on the Braves and throughout their farm system, it’s easy to forget that there are some talented position players that have been waiting to get the call and make an impact in the big leagues.
After flat out decimating Triple A for more than a month, the Braves pulled the trigger and called up prospect Austin Riley to play left field, even though his natural position is third base.
That didn’t stop him from making an impact, homering in his debut and staying hot ever since, including a game tying bomb in the series finale against the Giants in San Francisco.
That home run was Riley’s FIFTH since his call up on May 15th. He’s also hitting for a high average and has played solid defense in left in addition to a few starts at third base to spell veteran Josh Donaldson.
It’s been less than two weeks, but even with a small sample size, there is no way the Braves are sending Riley back to the minor leagues when Ender Inciarte is ready to come off the Injured List.
More than simply hitting well, Riley’s call up has reinvigorated a Braves team that had been embarrassed by Los Angeles the week before and squashed by St. Louis the night before. Atlanta has been tearing it up since the 22-year-old joined the team. The energy is high, and there’s certainly a correlation with Riley’s arrival, if not a direct causation.
While Riley’s and team’s success is an absolute good, it doesn’t bode so well for the Gold Glove centerfielder, Ender Enciarte, whose trip to the IL prompted the call up.
Inciarte has never set the world on fire with his bat and in fact is notorious for having slow starts every season before heating up during the second half; but he’s unmatched on the squad in center field.
Ronald Acuna, Jr. has slid over to man center in Ender’s absence, and while he’s faster and younger, he still hasn’t developed the defensive instincts that make Ender such an asset.
An outfield with Acuna in left, Ender in center, and stalwart Nick Markakis in right is a superior defensive outfield, no one will argue that. However, the dividends that Riley’s bat pays out may make it impossible for Brian Snitker to give Ender starts once he gets healthy.
Aside from spelling Donaldson at the hot corner, Riley is almost certainly going to be the starting left fielder for the Braves going forward, which Ender coming in as a defensive replacement late in games as long as he remains untraded.
Speaking of, that’s another feather the Braves have been able to add to their cap with Riley’s instant success. Ender will make an appealing trade piece. He’s a young veteran with a cheap contract that ends on a team option. Riley has given Atlanta the flexibility to flip Ender as part of a package for that constantly needed bullpen help.
Whatever happens, Austin Riley is leading the charge for Atlanta, and he’s here to stay.
Bull-Pen
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Putting together a winning team in Major League Baseball is a tall order.
In a sport where each team needs to cover so many different and individually specialized positions, a shortcoming or a rash of injuries anywhere on the diamond can be the source of an entire season’s worth of frustration and the difference between an elated or frustrated fan base.
For fans of the Atlanta Braves, it doesn’t take more than a split second to identify the area on which the 2019 season hinges.
The defending National League East champions are in position to rule the division once again and possibly do much more as their talented core of youth comes into its own, but seemingly every game gets transformed into a three-ring circus every time the bullpen gates open and the Braves’ relief pitching comes into play.
The Atlanta bullpen was one of the only weaknesses in the 2018 squad and despite high hopes for another postseason run this season, fans were a bit on edge this spring when the team did almost nothing to improve its late-inning options in 2019.
If the front office’s hope was that another year of experience would bring improved performance, that plan ran off the tracks early as closer Arodys Vizcaino was shut down for the season just after opening day.
A.J. Minter was the next man up to fill the closer role, but was sent back to the minor leagues after posting a 9.82 ERA and walking 11 over nine innings of work.
The Braves seemed to find an answer at the end of the game in Luke Jackson, who converted four consecutive saves from May 10-17, but Jackson has looked shaky since.
Even for the best teams in baseball, solidifying a bullpen is never an easy task. After all, there aren’t many guys whose lone career track has been that of a reliever.
Just about every pitcher in every bullpen in the majors began as a starter, but was moved to relief due to a lack of effective number of pitches or an inability to hold opponents scoreless for more than an inning or two.
That said, the Braves have found themselves in that dreaded position where no lead feels safe and everyone in the ballpark is on pins and needles until the final out is in the books.
The bullpen issues need to be addressed, but that is easier said than done. Braves fans have been getting louder in their constant reminders that Craig Kimbrel is still a free agent.
But Kimbrel is still demanding a salary and contract length that the notoriously stingy Atlanta front office doesn’t seem to be interested in.
On top of that, any team wanting to sign Kimbrel would have to forfeit a first-round draft pick unless they wait until after next week’s draft to sign him.
If a return to Atlanta for Kimbrel isn’t in the cards, there are plenty of other options for the Braves to manage the late innings. Any scout in baseball will tout the Braves’ young pitchers – either still in the minor leagues or called up to the majors last season – and predict big things for them in the future.
They could provide immediate help, but that would raise the question of whether it’s prudent to derail the progression of a future starting pitcher in order to put him to work in the bullpen.
The shuffling and experimenting will continue so long as the shaky relief outings continue to mount. However, the good news is that solid starting pitching and a young lineup that is hitting the ball better with each passing week should give the bullpen plenty of leads to attempt to preserve as the season continues.
There’s a long way to go, and the Braves look to be in for another playoff push. And if those bullpen questions are answered, 2019 is looking very bright for Atlanta.
Fire Fighter
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There is such a thing as beating a dead horse – so head’s up: I am about to do it.
I am about to talk about relief pitching, and it will not be a positive column. You have been warned.
The Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Atlanta Braves, finishing up yet another series in which the Braves proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they desperately need help in their bullpen.
Reliever AJ Minter took a loss in the series, spoiling a great start by rookie, Max Fried. Both Minter and Chad Sobotka gave up 3 earned runs a piece in the loss.
That dumpster fire was followed up by an extra innings loss after Jesse Biddle couldn’t hold the tie game in the 10th inning.
Then Mike Soroka took a loss even though the young hurler gave up one run on six strikeouts and a walk in five innings, but Sobotka gave up another three (two earned) to let the game get away from the Braves.
I’m not sure this can be considered a silver lining, but in the first game of the doubleheader against the Indians, it was Julio Teheran who gave up the most runs in the Braves’ fourth straight loss (Wes Parsons did give up three as well; that bullpen will not be outdone!).
So back to that dead horse. Even though we haven’t brought him up in the SSE for a while: let’s talk about Craig Kimbrel.
Kimbrel is still sitting at home with a week and a half left until May. From what I’ve read, there’s an increasing chance that Kimbrel’s asking price has dropped from the reported six-year, $100 million-or-so to possibly even a much more palatable three-year contract.
Interesting note, Kimbrel’s agent is the same guy who represents Ozzie Albies, which is bonkers when you think about it: one guy is sitting at home because he’s asking for too much, the other guy took roughly 1/10th of his value for the next decade.
But let’s throw money out of the equation for now and pretend that the Braves and Kimbrel could reach a deal that would satisfy both the flame-throwing righty as well as Liberty Media.
Would Kimbrel really be the savior of the season if the Braves actually inked him to a return deal? Well, no. Despite being one of the greatest closers of all time even this early into his career, he’s still just one guy.
He can replace Arodys Vizcaino at the back end of the bullpen (Vizcaino, possibly the most reliable piece on the relief staff, is out for the season), but he can’t set up for himself, or do damage control for three innings in the middle of a game. He’s a great pitcher, but he’s not five great pitchers.
The starting rotation, which has been very good, isn’t going to provide eight innings every night, either.
Unfortunately, that’s the only situation in which signing Craig Kimbrel solves all of the Braves’ problems. That being said, it also would be a good start. The best bullpens are built from the 9th inning on down, and a reunion with Kimbrel would certainly be a step in the right direction.
Acuna Money-tata
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
If we’ve learned anything from the 11th hour contract signings of Manny Machado and Bryce Harper and the fact that Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are spending time with their families nearly a week into the new season, it’s that free agency is not the sure-fire promised land it once appeared to be.
In fact, players all across Major League Baseball seemed to have realized that in the past few weeks.
The Harper and Machado deals were followed by a slew of contract extensions, pushing back free agency for the likes of Alex Bregman, Jacob DeGrom, Blake Snell, Paul Goldschmidt, Xander Bogaerts, Justin Verlander and of course Mike Trout.
These are all players who would make a killing on the open market, with teams fighting over them to the tune of escalating contract offers, or at least that would have been the case a few years ago.
The cold stove of 2018-2019 seems to have put ballplayers off of free agency altogether, opting to agree to terms with their current teams instead.
For Braves fans, that trend reached its glorious zenith on Tuesday, as Atlanta inked Ronald Acuna, Jr. to an eight-year, $100 million-dollar extension, with team options for years 9 and 10.
The details of the contract, briefly, are this: it starts this year, when Acuna will earn $1 million, then bumps up to $5 million in 2021 before a nice raise to $15 million in 2022 and settling in at $17 million from 2023 to 2026. The team options are worth $17 million for 2027 and 2028 with a $10 million buyout before the ’27 season.
For a young kid who’s got only one year in the majors under his belt (a Rookie of the Year, mind you), that’s a lot of scratch. On the other hand, based on this kid’s potential ceiling, it might end up being a steal for the Braves.
I was reading MLB end-of-year award predictions last week, and one of them put their money on Acuna to win the National League MVP in his second season. His prediction didn’t begin with “now this seems crazy.” That’s because it’s not crazy. What Acuna showed in 111 games in 2018 is that he can be an elite player at the big-league level.
For the sake of comparison, here’s what some former MVPs are going to be making in 2019:
Mike Trout – $36 million
Clayton Kershaw – $31 million
Bryce Harper – $30 million
Miguel Cabrera – $30 million
Justin Verlander – $28 million
Albert Pujols – $28 million
Giancarlo Stanton – $28 million
Let’s also not overlook the fact that Acuna’s teammate Josh Donaldson, who is 33 and coming off an injury-plagued 2018, is making $23 million this season.
Now I have no idea if Acuna will win the NL MVP this year, but if he does, he’ll be making nearly $30 million less than the average of the eight guys I just mentioned.
If he wins an MVP award at any point during the next eight seasons, he’ll be making at most $13 million less than that average.
So, at best the Braves are getting a bargain on Acuna’s potential production. As much as baseball players get paid, this deal is a good one even if Acuna’s rookie campaign turns out to be his ceiling.
A good defensive outfielder who hits around .300 with 25+ dingers and a handful of stolen bases to boot is worth $17 million easy.
Andrew McCutchen (another former MVP) is making $17 million with the Phillies this year and he’s beyond the days where he can put up those kinds of numbers.
And let’s face it: Acuna has not come close to hitting his ceiling. Good deal.
