I took my daughter to the Braves game last night for the special “Hello Kitty” package.
Free plushies and five whole innings of live baseball. What more can a guy ask for?
Well … there is one other thing.
DON’T LET HIM LEAVE
All hail King Acuña.
Ronald Acuña Jr. — the Braves’ singular outfield sensation — is the champion of this year’s tournament of joy-inducing Atlanta athletes. In fact, y’all voted for him over Falcons star Bijan Robinson by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
A few of the offered explanations:
- Jarred from Macon: “Bijan could take over with a 10-plus year career and a Super Bowl, but until then, give me Ronnie. Homegrown talent who has been a consistent force for the Braves for almost a decade, he helped us stay stable through all the departures.”
- Wayne from Stone Mountain: “His bat, his fielding range, his arm and his base running can change a game instantly.”
- Leigh from Duluth: “Ronald is just plain electric. You can tell he loves playing the game. I’m proud to see him wearing my team’s uniform.”
Hear, hear. I love the love.
And I’m not ready to confront the possible end of Acuña’s Atlanta era.
Unfortunately timed ligament explosions mean we’ve essentially only seen two full seasons of the Venezuelan menace. He’s played more than 100 games just four times in eight seasons, with two of those — 111 games as a rookie, 119 in 2022 — falling well short of complete campaigns.
They all count, though, and the $100 million contract Acuña signed as a youngster is suddenly set to expire after this season.
The Braves have $17 million team options on the table for 2027 and 2028. They’d be foolish not to pick those up.
But then what?
- Spotrac data suggests 95 MLB players make more than the $12.5 million Acuña’s earning this season.
- Twenty-six of those rake in north of $30 million a year, and I’d take Acuña over any of ‘em not named Shohei Ohtani.
- Barring another catastrophic injury, Acuña could easily demand an average annual value of, say, $35 million or $40 million on the free market. Maybe more.
So would the Braves pony up? Maybe even get a new deal done early? Or let him walk, a la Freddie Freeman and Max Fried?
Well …
Atlanta has never committed to pay anyone more than $27 million for a single season … and that’s the extension Chris Sale inked just a couple months ago.
Even another team-friendly deal would likely eclipse that figure. And Acuña, 28, would presumably want a minimum of what? Four or five years?
As the cool kids say: The math ain’t mathing.
That’s where you come in.
Start calling, right now, for an Acuña extension.
Bring signs to ballgames. Email the team’s corporate overlords. Call your senator. Stand on the corner banging pots and pans. Shout at your children.
Anything.
It’s probably won’t make a lick of difference, of course.
But we love Ronald. And what is love but a series of heartfelt yet ultimately futile gestures?
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SO YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE
The Hawks’ playoff series against the Knicks and the world’s most unjustifiably insufferable fans starts Saturday at Madison Square Garden (6 p.m. on Amazon Prime). It’ll continue Monday night before coming to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday, April 23, and Saturday, April 25, respectively.
To get ready, I’d highly recommend beat writer Lauren Williams’ newest breakdown of how we got here — as well as the following poll.
Call your shot: How will the series playing out?
- A. Knicks in a rout.
- B. Hawks in a rout.
- C. Knicks in six or seven.
- D. Hawks in six or seven.
I’m taking Hawks in six because 1) why not? 2) they’ve got more individual postseason experience than you might realize and 3) it would be very, very fun to watch all those New York hearts break.
Again.
✅ Vote here or shoot me an email. And watch those inboxes for a special playoff edition of the Win Column before Saturday’s tipoff.
SPRING FOOTBALL GAMES COMETH
Spring football practice is already … well, it’s just about over, somehow.
But you know what that means: an excuse to head back to campus and pretend you can glean something from a single public scrimmage!
🐶 Georgia’s G-Day Game: 1 p.m. Saturday. Buy $10 general admission tickets here or watch on ESPN+.
DawgNation’s Connor Riley suggests keeping an eye on the receiving corps.
“The group experienced significant turnover this offseason and it’s easily the biggest question mark about the 2026 team. Transfer Isiah Canion, formerly of Georgia Tech, was the big offseason addition but Saturday will be an opportunity for second year players Talyn Taylor and Landon Roldan. Georgia needs both of them to take on a bigger role this coming season.
“If there’s a freshman to keep an eye on, look for Kaiden Prothro, No. 80. He’s impossible to miss at 6-foot-6 and while his long-term home might be at tight end, Georgia is going to use him at wide receiver.”
🐝 Tech’s Gold & White Game: 1 p.m. Saturday. Free admission.
Jackets fans will get their first real look at a whopping 19 transfers, including running back Justice Haynes. The former Blessed Trinity and Buford star put up 857 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in just seven games for Michigan last season.
Then there’s the quarterback situation: Haynes King is preparing for the NFL draft, Aaron Philo is at Florida — and Alberto Mendoza, brother of Indiana’s title-winning QB, figures to have a leg up for the Jackets’ starting job. Keep an eye on youngsters like Cole Bergeron and Graham Knowles, though.
WNBA POCKET WATCHING
The Atlanta Dream are running it back and then some in 2026, re-signing all of their core pieces while mixing in the Angel Reese Experience.
And if you were wondering, the whole crew is cashing in on the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, too.
Leader Allisha Gray used to make $190,000 a season. Her 2026 salary? Add a million.
Rhyne Howard and Brionna Jones saw similar jumps, while Reese’s rookie contract climbed in value from $75,000 to almost $351,000.
It pays to be popular.
🔗 Bonus linkage: Reese now under pressure to win
OTHER GOOD STUFF TO KNOW
⚾ Mark your calendars: Georgia and Georgia Tech baseball — both blasting their way to top 5 national rankings — square off Tuesday at Truist Park. Tickets are $25 and proceeds go to the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
🤔 The NFL draft is, somehow, only eight days away. Reporter Gabe Burns recently took a closer look at how the Falcons can achieve something close to success with their five lonely picks. (Can I interest anyone in an Omar Cooper?)
💰 The Georgia High School Association has five times more cash on hand than it did in 2015. So, uh … how? AJC Varsity’s Todd Holcomb went deep — but the short answer is sponsorships, media partnerships and a few other things.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Well done, Rory. See ya next year.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
