Mariners must unfortunately get realistic after Ronald Acuña Jr. trade bites the dust

You can go ahead and take Ronald Acuña Jr. off your wish list of Seattle Mariners trade candidates. The Atlanta Braves reportedly have no interest in moving the 2023 NL MVP, to a point where they don't even want to be bothered about it.

This is according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, whose word is pretty solid as these things go. If it's a surprise, it's only because Acuña's time as the center of gravity in Atlanta's lineup seems to have run its course. Since his MVP-winning season three years ago, there has been plenty of injury trouble and offensive consistency, and not much of the radiating star power that Acuña had been known for.

To wit, that 2023 season saw Acuña play in 159 games and produce 41 home runs, 73 stolen bases and 8.4 rWAR. Since then, he's gotten into only 251 games and managed 45 homers and 46 steals, with a total of 5.0 rWAR. Some of his tell-tale metrics have also taken a turn for the worse, with this year in particular featuring the worst average exit velocity and hard-hit rate of his career.

So, maybe the Braves don't want to sell low on the 28-year-old Acuña, who will make $17 million in 2027 followed by another $17 million in 2028 if his option gets picked up. It could also be that they firmly believe he's not done yet as a superstar.

Mariners' trade options look slimmer, but still solid with Ronald Acuña Jr. off the board

As for the Mariners, there never was any solid reporting about them being for-real interested in swinging a trade for Acuña. The possibility had more so been a popular speculative outcome, albeit for good reasons.

For more than a year now, the Mariners have needed a bat and the Braves have needed starting pitching. The notion that they might help each other was obvious, and never more so than this winter. The Braves basically don't have a No. 2 starter behind Chris Sale. And in a notable change from his prior stance, Jerry Dipoto is signaling that he's willing to deal from the Mariners' rotation surplus.

On paper, a trade offer of George Kirby plus a top-100 prospect (i.e., Lazaro Montes or Felnin Celesten) might have gotten it done for Acuña. Alas, so much for that.

Thankfully, the Mariners do still have compelling trade options available to them. There's Zach Neto if they want to get in on his market. Steven Kwan is another player whose name is popular in the ether. There are potentially multiple avenues to a trade with the Chicago Cubs or Baltimore Orioles, both of whom need arms and have bats to spare.

Yet if it's a question of whether there's another superstar-type player who could be had for less than a superstar-level price, pickings are slim now that Acuña is off the board. Maybe Gunnar Henderson, though he's less of an ideal fit on account of being left-handed. It's a right-handed bat the Mariners need, and Acuña at least comfortably out-hit Henderson this year.

Either way, the clock is ticking. The CBA expires in three weeks, at which point all rumors and movement will come to a halt for what could be a long time.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow