ATLANTA, Ga. — The Atlanta Braves will keep two of their longtime cornerstones for at least one more year after picking up 2027 contract options on outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and second baseman Ozzie Albies on Thursday.
Acuña’s option is worth $17 million and Albies’ is worth $7 million. Acuña signed a $100 million, eight-year deal in 2019 that carried this option, which had a $10 million buyout, along with another $17 million option for 2028 that has no buyout. Albies will be eligible for free agency once the 2027 season ends.
Acuña, the 2023 National League MVP and a five-time All-Star, batted .255 with 20 home runs, 55 RBIs and 21 steals over 107 regular-season games. Two strains of his left hamstring kept him out for about a third of the year. He went 3-for-24 at the plate across seven playoff games.
Questions about his ceiling linger after he tore the ACL in his right knee in 2021 and the one in his left knee in 2024. Still, he closed the regular season hot, with a .997 OPS across his last 26 games, three years after a 2023 season in which he became the only big leaguer ever to top 40 homers and 70 steals in the same year.
Albies, 29, a four-time All-Star, posted a career-low .237 average with 22 homers and 73 RBIs and played in all 162 games. He turned it on in October with a 1.067 OPS in the postseason.
Atlanta also brought starting pitchers Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz back from the 60-day injured list now that the World Series is over, leaving 35 players on the 40-man roster.
Ten Braves became free agents Thursday, among them right-hander Raisel Iglesias, utility man Mauricio Dubón, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and pitchers Tyler Mahle, Joe Jiménez, Martin Pérez and Brent Suter.
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