The Atlanta Braves, who won 94 games, the NL East Division title and the NL Wild Card Series over the Phillies, made the no-brainer decision of all no-brainer decisions today.
The Braves signed Ronald Acuña Jr to a very hometown-friendly contract that allows
Atlanta to retain 2023 NL Most Valuable Player. They will pay him 17 million dollars (eh, in theory if all 162 games are played) for the 2027 season. Ozzie Albies signed a much more team-friendly contract. The Braves will pay Ozzie Albies a lockout-pending 7 million dollars.
Someportions of Braves Country were certain Ronald would not be back. I believe most of those don’t watch the regular season games, believe things on social media, or both. But he’s due to make 6 million fewer dollars than MLB qualifying offers. When healthy, he’s amazing. When not healthy, he hears about it. Much the same goes for Ozzie Albies. The Braves have paid him 38 million for 23 WAR over the last 10 years. He did have a career low in wRC+ this season. But it appears they’ll keep the good vibes going one more season. It would probably prove more trouble to replace Albies this season than to keep him, and should serve as the bridge for prospects waiting in Double-A.
The Braves did some bookkeepingas well today as the postseason kicked off. They reinstated Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz from the 60-day Injured List. Alex Anthopoulos has already told us that we should not expect Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider to just pick up where they left off. Joey Wentz’s injury is at least a lower body one, blowing out his right ACL fielding a meaningless Spring Training bunt attempt. But hey, at least it’s not his arm (whistles past Joe Jimenez).
Welcome back, Ronnie and Ozzie. Let’s get this silly labor spat decided and watch some dingers, shall we?
