Braves exercise club options on Acuña and Albies
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ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies can look forward to the possibility of being teammates for at least one more season.
Acuña’s $17 million option and Albies’ $7 million option were exercised on Thursday. The Braves also reinstated starting pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz from the 60-day injured list.
Acuña’s contract includes another $17 million option for the 2028 season. Albies would be eligible for free agency at the conclusion of the '27 season. It was always assumed both options would be exercised for the upcoming season.
While Acuña has not been the consistently dynamic player he has been since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament in 2024, he has still played at an elite level when healthy. The '23 NL MVP hit .255 with 20 homers, 21 stolen bases and a .796 OPS in 107 regular-season games this year. Two separate left hamstring strains forced him to miss approximately a third of the season.
Acuña went 3-for-24 with five walks and three stolen bases over seven postseason games this year. During the four games played against the Dodgers in the NL Division Series, he went 2-for-15 with two walks and one stolen base. He was booed by the home crowd during Los Angeles’ clinching Game 4 win.
Acuña constructed a historic season in 2023, becoming the only MLB player to hit 40-plus homers and tally 70-plus stolen bases in a season. It would have been hard to duplicate this level of production. But there’s now reason to question whether he can be elite again with two surgically-repaired knees.
The Braves right fielder tore his right ACL midway through the 2021 season. But there were at least some glimpses of greatness this year. He posted a .997 OPS over his final 26 regular-season games.
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Albies hit .237 with 22 homers and a .685 OPS during the regular season, but he produced a 1.067 OPS during the playoffs. Even with his offensive decline over the past two seasons, his $7 million salary can be viewed as a bargain, especially when you account for his clubhouse leadership.
There is a chance that Strider, Schwellenbach, Waldrep and Wentz all begin the next season on the injured list. But with the conclusion of the World Series they needed to be put back on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, which currently consists of 35 players.
Utility man Mauricio Dubón, right-handers Tyler Mahle, Raisel Iglesias, Joe Jiménez; left-handers Martin Pérez and Brent Suter; shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, outfielder Lane Thomas and designated hitters Dominic Smith and Rowdy Tellez all became free agents on Thursday.