Whenever there is any sort of controversy, people come out of the woodwork to share some truly inane opinions. These can usually be ignored except when those inane opinions come from a prominent voice and thankfully, the rift the Atlanta Braves have been dealing with lately involving Ronald Acuna Jr. and Brian Snitker had largely avoided that at least until now.
Sure, there have been those that have taken one side or the other with Acuna Jr.'s position getting some sympathy at the national level in particular. However, most reasonable people agree that Acuna Jr. probably should have kept his feelings in house and Snitker could have been more consistent with discipline and handled Jarred Kelenic's situation better in the moment.
That should have been the end of it and we probably aren't going to hear much from Acuna Jr. or Snitker about it again. Unfortunately, part-time Braves broadcast Jeff Francoeur decided to enter the fray and put Ronald on blast because...well because reasons.
Jeff Francoeur wading into Ronald Acuna Jr. drama helped exactly no one including the Braves
First of all, Francoeuris entitled to his opinion. This isn't a free speech issue. If he wants to rant about how the Braves didn't need Acuna Jr. to win the World Series in 2021 (they wouldn't have gotten there without Acuna Jr.'s first half fwiw) and imply that the Braves would be better off without him, that is his business. Frenchy clearly loves Snit and loves the old school way with Bobby Cox that he was brought up with. So be it. Both Snitker and Bobby are great guys to look up to.
But what purpose does a four minute diatribe blasting Acuna Jr. in this scenario serve exactly? This was not a former player being mildly annoyed. This was a guy that broadcasts Braves games blasting one of their best players for a not short amount of time on a podcast laying into Ronald because he pointed out (probably accurately) that he would have been benched in that spot. Where was this energy from Francoeur with other controversies involving Jurickson Profar or Marcell Ozuna?
Again, it is just hard to understand what purpose this even served. Clearly Snitker and Acuna Jr. need to have a conversation to get back on the same page and it feels likely that will happen if it hasn't already. Those surrounding the team deciding to stoke the flames here because Snitker (or Acuna Jr.) is their guy and they are upset this popped up as the Braves are turning things around may want to take a hard look in the mirror and recognize that they are part of the problem.