The Boston Red Sox are desperate for power in their lineup without an exceedingly obvious place to put it on the roster. Many people have pointed to the outfield as the best place for it, but the Sox would have to make a trade or two to make someone fit.
Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki are the two top fits on the free agent market, but given the underwhelming nature of this year's class, they're sure to be among the offseason's most expensive additions. Boston could turn to the trade market for its answer to its power deficiency, with many good options likely to be available there — including a former MVP.
FanSided has proposed an Atlanta Braves-Red Sox trade that would send Ronald Acuña Jr. to Boston: Jarren Duran. Wilyer Abreu and No. 9 prospect John Holobetz for the former MVP. As many major mock trades do, the package has garnered significant attention on social media with polarizing reactions from the two sides.
There have been rumors, as well as speculation based on Acuña's Instagram activity, that he might want to leave Atlanta this winter, though MLB insider Jon Heyman believes it's a "major longshot" that he's traded this offseason.
The Braves would be foolish to trade Acuña away. He's the face of their team and has two years left on his contract. Despite his penchant for online drama and injury issues, Acuña is still a highly talented player on an inexpensive contract relative to his potential — one could argue that the Acuña deal (eight years at $100 million, starting in 2020) kick-started the trend of extending promising young stars early.
Red Sox and Braves fans strongly disagree about FanSided Ronald Acuña Jr. mock trade package
The contract is the sticking point when negotiating a deal with the Braves. Acuña has shown he has MVP-caliber talent in a full, healthy season, and it will be difficult to justify trading him for the low price of $17 million per year.
Acuña batted .255/.345/.451 with 18 doubles, a triple and 20 home runs over 107 games for the Braves this year, the most he's played since 2023. He's slashed .285/.379/.516 in his career over parts of nine seasons.
Duran is a prime change of scenery candidate and he could flourish with another club — there's been too much recent drama in the Red Sox organization and too many spats between Duran and Boston media and fans to believe that it hasn't impacted his work. Abreu is about to be a three-time Gold Glove winner. Since he just hit arbitration, he's still inexpensive for a highly decorated player with 25 home run power. But the Red Sox need to part with talent to get talent.
John Holobetz is Boston's third-highest ranked pitching prospect and the closest to the major leagues. He posted a 4.07 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 132 strikeouts and 36 walks over 119.1 innings of work.
Braves fans feel that trading Acuña should entitle them to more from the Red Sox and many have specifically mentioned including Payton Tolle, which is never going to happen. Acuña has only played one full season of his contract so far and he's not worth three players as cheap as Abreu, Holobetz and Tolle are. The risk of taking him on is too great. Other players could be in the conversation, but Tolle is too big an ask.
Most experts believe Acuña is most likely to remain in Atlanta this year, but the Red Sox have the players to match up for a trade. Whether the hypothetical deal looks anything like the one FanSided proposed is yet to be seen, but seemingly only Sox fans would be happy with that deal.
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