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The Atlanta Braves future is bright, but what will it cost?

By Kyle Walter

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 07: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves hits a grand slam home run in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Three of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 07: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves hits a grand slam home run in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Three of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
NAGOYA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 14: Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves warms up prior to the game five between Japan and MLB All Stars at Nagoya Dome on November 14, 2018 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images) /

The Atlanta Braves were one of the youngest teams in the major leagues last season and have much of the roster still on pre-arbitration contracts. What could arbitration costs in the future look like?

Ronald Acuña, Jr. lit the MLB on fire this season, with some help from players like Ozzie Albies, Touki Toussaint, A.J. Minter, and others. The Atlanta Braves were one of the youngest teams in the majors last year, due to the emergence of the aforementioned players.

As of now, they are getting paid figurative pennies for the value they are providing for the team. All of them are surely making under 1 million dollars a year.

Remember, Chris Davis is still being paid absurd amounts of money each year to look buff and strikeout 200 plus times a season. What I intend to do is establish how much some of the Braves young stars could look to make in their first arbitration-eligible seasons in the near future. Like I usually do, I’ll include video of each player for entertainment purposes.

The Big One

The obvious place to start is Ronald Acuña Jr.

If his career continues on its current trajectory, I think it’s totally reasonable to think that he could surpass the arbitration record 10.85 million given to Kris Bryant in his first arbitration-eligible year. Acuña posted a 4.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) number as a hitter in 2018. According to Fangraphs, the “cost” of one war is approximately 10.5 million dollars. Based on this metric, Acuña is being criminally underpaid at the moment.

If he continues to post similar numbers in the coming years, once he hits arbitration in 2021 he should easily eclipse the 10.85 Million given to Bryant. Bryant averaged 671 plate appearances over his first 3 years as well as 6.6 WAR. Give Acuña the same number of appearances over his next few seasons, and there’s a chance he could equal or eclipse those numbers.

Considering he put up the stats that he did in only 487 plate appearances, it’s scary to imagine his potential over a whole season of opportunity. My tentative number for Acuña would be $11.5 Million.

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