Ronald Acuña Jr. injury: Five trade candidates for the Braves after losing reigning NL MVP for season

The Atlanta Braves announced Sunday night that outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., the reigning National League Most Valuable Player Award winner, will miss the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering a complete tear in his anterior cruciate ligament. Acuña’s injury occurred during Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates when he attempted to redirect momentum while running the bases. This is the third time in his career that he has been sidelined with an ACL-related injury, having missed a month in 2018 and significantly longer in 2021-22.

The Braves, who enter Monday six games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East, don’t have many great in-house options. They have Adam Duvall on their active roster and three players with outfield experience who are stationed at Triple-A and on their 40-man roster: JP Martínez, Forrest Wall and Luke Williams. It’s fair to think, then, that they’ll be looking for outside help by Major League Baseball’s July 30 trade deadline.

Who could the Braves target? Let’s take a look at five potential starting names. Note that this is more of an art than a science, and there’s still a long way to go before crazy season begins. (Additionally, the players are represented in no particular order.)

Let’s be real: Pham was signed by the lowly White Sox to be traded at the deadline. Although he only made his debut at the end of April, he performed well in his first 32 games. In fact, he batted .313/.358/.445 with three home runs in 137 plate appearances. Although he celebrated his 36th birthday in March, he remains capable of putting load on the ball, with his average exit velocity exceeding 90 mph year to date. Pham has been traded at each of the last two deadlines. We hope this streak reaches three before the calendar turns to August.

Perry Minasian knows the key members of the Braves’ front office well, having worked in Atlanta before taking over the Angels. Unfortunately for Minasian, his Angels team is a few years away. There is no real reason to keep Ward, who turned 30 last December and will qualify for free agency after the 2026 season. Ward is on pace to have one of the best seasons of his career, having hit .274/.330/.483 in his first 52 games this season.

Rooker, Nov. 30, rose above Quad-A labels to reach last year’s All-Star Game. He’s off to another hot start this season, hitting .286/.368/.565 with 11 home runs in his first 42 games. Rooker has a boom-or-bust profile that could go south in any given year — even this season, he’s striking out in nearly 33% of his plate appearances — which should make it easier for the Athletics to part ways with him at the deadline. . Furthermore, there is little indication that the A’s care about their on-field product before this offseason’s move to Sacramento.

The Marlins, led by new baseball executive Peter Bendix, already announced they were open to summer trades by trading Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres. Why stop there? De La Cruz has been a top prospect for years thanks to his ability to impact baseball. Unfortunately, he has been a league average hitter since his rookie season. The Braves may feel like they can get more out of De La Cruz before his winter 2027 date with free agency. If so, perhaps there is potential here for intra-divisional trade between former enemies.

As with Pham, the Nationals signed Winker with the goal of moving him at the deadline. He bounced back from back-to-back disappointing seasons to hit .264/.379/.455 against right-handed pitching. Of course, we’re including a split for a reason — Winker isn’t particularly good against lefties and would need a platoon partner if the Braves (or whoever employs him in August) want to maximize his production. That may be less desirable for the Braves, who already do everything they can to prevent Jarred Kelenic from facing a pitch with the same hand.