Potential Braves trade targets to replace Acuña
JJ Bleday – Oakland L/L Pre-Arb
JJ Bleday was the fourth player drafted in 2019 and immediately became one of baseball’s top 100 prospects, a role he held until he aged off the list in 2023.
Oakland sent A. J. Puk to Miami in exchange for Bleday in February 2023. After platooning Bleday in 2023, he became the Athletics everyday center fielder in 2024 and is currently batting .240/.315/.464/.778 with a .336 wOBA and 122 wRC+. He’s pre-arb this season with roughly $500K remaining on his contract and under team control through 2028.
His arbitration status and contract fit the Braves' needs, and right field looks like his best position, though his glove needs improvement. He’s 26 years old and probably not in the Athletics future, but he is inexpensive, so I suspect it would cost the Braves three good prospects to acquire Bleday.
Connor Joe – Pirates R/R – Free Agent 2028
The Braves saw a lot of Connor Joe over the weekend; he went 5-11 in the series, including 2-3 against Chris Sale on Sunday. The Pirates selected Joe in the 1st round of the 2014 draft but traded him to the Braves in August 2017 in exchange for Sean Rodriguez. The Braves traded him to LA for international draft money a month later.
He had two seasons with the Rockies and was a fan favorite when they traded him to the Bucs. The Pirate gave him more playing time and he’s performed well in the outfield and at first base. He’s currently batting .280/.351/.458/.809 with a .255 wOBA and 131 wRC+, which sounds like a reason to keep him, except that he’s 32 in August and a free agent at the end of the year.
There’s roughly $1.4M remaining on Joe’s contract, he’s played both corner outfield spots well and, as we saw, also plays a solid first base. He hits both right and left-handed pitchers well, so there’s no reason to platoon him. Joe should be that costly because he’s 32 and a free agent with three arbitration years remaining after this season.