Ronald Acuña Jr. — yes, you should be trying to trade for the best player in fantasy baseball
Coming off the heels of a holiday that celebrates America, I’m going to ask you to try to do something that has always been part of American culture: dreaming big.
In the 2023 fantasy baseball landscape, dreaming big means trading for Ronald Acuña Jr.
How good has Acuña been? To say that he has been the most valuable fantasy asset would be doing him a disservice. According to the earned values for salary-cap drafts on the RotoWire site, Acuña’s production thus far has been worth $67.
Just six players have earned a value that is even half of that total.
Do you think Shohei Ohtani has been awesome? Acuña has produced $18 more fantasy value than the hitting side of Ohtani. Corbin Carroll has a similar skill set to Acuña and has been a top-five player this season; Acuña is kicking Carroll’s butt in all five standard categories.
These absurd statistics recently got me thinking about what Acuña is worth on the trade market. After doing some research, I believe every manager should try to acquire him at almost any cost.
A quick trip to the Yahoo Trade Market page shows that Acuña was recently traded for Juan Soto and Shane McClanahan. This is exactly the type of trade you should try to make. Soto and McClanahan have earned a combined $44 dollars this season, which pales in comparison to Acuña’s $67. In most circumstances, I would be willing to offer the Acuña manager any hitter and pitcher off my roster. This type of offer could appeal to Acuña squads, as his remarkable contributions might have put his team into a lead in runs and steals, but he can’t fix pitching problems.
Those who can’t afford to part with pitchers should instead offer any two hitters on their team for Acuña. They could even throw in a third player of respectable quality. For example, an offer of José Ramírez and Kyle Tucker would have to get the other manager’s attention. Thus far in 2023, Acuña has been worth $13 more than both of those players put together.
Here's the hidden secret to trading for Acuña: All my speculation up to this point in this article assumes that the empty roster spot that is created when acquiring him will be filled with a $1 player. And although that might be the level that needs to be settled for initially, any manager who believes in their acumen should be confident that they can squeeze more than $1 of production out of that roster spot. Working the waiver wire should be able to produce $5 in streamers at the very least. In a perfect scenario, you find a breakout player in the second half and have $10 of production to go along with Acuña’s $67.
Maybe you can’t trade for Acuña. But you should try. Send an offer that blows his manager away and makes them not decline the deal.
I can hear the naysayers reminding me that Acuña might not produce at such an extreme level in the second half. Sure, that’s possible. But the same thing is possible for the pair of top players that you trade away. The Soto+McClanahan offer above occurred just a few days before McClanahan landed on the IL.
Acuña has shown no signs of slowing down. In every completed month, he has produced more than 20 runs and at least 10 steals. His lowest monthly average was .298. Acuña isn’t on a heater; he’s legitimately awesome. And so are the Braves, who lead the majors in OPS. Acuña and his teammates should remain an offensive juggernaut for the rest of the season and could be even better in a few weeks, once the trade deadline passes.
For perspective, here are my thoughts on a few other Acuña deals that have popped up on the Yahoo Trade Market page in recent days:
Acuña for Julio Urías, Elly De La Cruz and Eddie Rosario
A big win for the manager who acquired Acuña. De La Cruz is exciting, Urias could bounce back in the second half, and Rosario is a useful depth player. I’ll gladly take Acuña and two shots at the waiver wire.
Acuña for Bryce Harper and Joe Ryan
Still not enough. Harper has terrific name value, but with three homers and 195 at-bats, he clearly isn’t fully healthy. Harper and Ryan, who is a very valuable starter, still isn’t close to enough.
Acuña for Julio Rodríguez, Eury Pérez and Ryan McMahon
This would be a fair deal if Pérez weren't on an innings limit that will impact his second-half value. For that reason, I’ll still take Acuña and two stabs at the waiver wire, especially in shallow leagues.
Acuña for Freddie Freeman and Cedric Mullins
This is exactly the type of offer to send. Freeman has been great this year. Mullins might produce enough to make up the gap between the two stars, but in reality, the overall value in this deal still swings heavily toward Acuña.
Acuña for Corbin Carroll and Ranger Suárez
Carroll has been a top-five player this season, but the gap between the Arizona star and Acuña is still a mile wide. Suárez falls far short of the type of pitcher who would be needed to bridge the gap.
My final reason for acquiring Acuña is that fantasy baseball is supposed to be fun. And I can’t think of many things that would be more fun than checking Acuña’s box scores for the remainder of the season. It’s time to close this article and send your absolute best offer for Acuña. You won’t regret it.
