FG Braves Article

[Tapate50]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/acunas-return-is-just-one-piece-of-braves-turnaround/

[bravesfanMatt]

I know this is not the take of this article, but anytime I see something about last year, I always go back to this 'what if'.. What if Acuna stays healthy... do we win it all? I have answered it yes and no and have different reasons why each time. Baseball is a crazy game.

[bravesfanforlife88]

I know this is not the take of this article, but anytime I see something about last year, I always go back to this 'what if'.. What if Acuna stays healthy... do we win it all? I have answered it yes and no and have different reasons why each time. Baseball is a crazy game.

Honestly, I don't believe we do. The addition of Rosario, Soler, and Pederson really changed the tone of this team. Starting with Pederson, this team got an edge about them that I don't think even Acuna could have provided.

[chop2chip]

Honestly, I don't believe we do. The addition of Rosario, Soler, and Pederson really changed the tone of this team. Starting with Pederson, this team got an edge about them that I don't think even Acuna could have provided.

You just have to assume we would have. It’s so easy to point to individual reasons why we won (or could have lost), but Acuna is so dynamic he could have had an Astros Beltran type postseason and hit 13 home runs. You’ll never know so it’s best to assume better players would have played better.

[thewupk]

Honestly, I don't believe we do. The addition of Rosario, Soler, and Pederson really changed the tone of this team. Starting with Pederson, this team got an edge about them that I don't think even Acuna could have provided.

The Joc deal was being made before Acuna went down. That said. Our OF was still an issue even with Acuna. I suspect we still trade for everyone but Soler.

[bravesfanMatt]

you guys are just like the little voices in my head.. wait are you the voices in my head...

[chop2chip]

The Joc deal was being made before Acuna went down. That said. Our OF was still an issue even with Acuna. I suspect we still trade for everyone but Soler.
Joc was definitely after the Acuna injury. AA has cited that injury for the reason they made the deal.

If I had to guess, AA trades for Duvall still and one of Joc or Rosario (probably Joc, Eddie seems like he was a hedge).

Eddie was so amazing in the Dodgers series that it’s at least an interesting what if.

[zbhargrove]

The Joc deal was being made before Acuna went down. That said. Our OF was still an issue even with Acuna. I suspect we still trade for everyone but Soler.

No Joc was definitely the near immediate deal as soon as we went down

[thewupk]

No Joc was definitely the near immediate deal as soon as we went down

I'm pretty sure AA said he was in talks for trading for Pederson before Acuna got hurt.

[CyYoung31]

The real question is if we still win it all without Freddie this year.

[Tapate50]

I'm pretty sure AA said he was in talks for trading for Pederson before Acuna got hurt.

Props to AA for rectifying that... i believe it was Enscheff that presented him as a prime target late in the offseason.

[chop2chip]

The real question is if we still win it all without Freddie this year.

Duh

[Carp]

Honestly, I don't believe we do. The addition of Rosario, Soler, and Pederson really changed the tone of this team. Starting with Pederson, this team got an edge about them that I don't think even Acuna could have provided.

I believe we were already in talk for Pederson before Acuna got injured. If you recall, our other OF spots were trash even before he got injured. We probably end up with Duvall regardless due to his defense and probably one of Soler/Rosario but not both. I know Soler and Rosario were back to back series MVP but Acuna could been just as important there.

[bravesfanforlife88]

I believe we were already in talk for Pederson before Acuna got injured. If you recall, our other OF spots were trash even before he got injured. We probably end up with Duvall regardless due to his defense and probably one of Soler/Rosario but not both. I know Soler and Rosario were back to back series MVP but Acuna could been just as important there.

Of course we will never know. But adding Pederson, Duvall, Rosario, and Soler and having all 4 get hot going into the playoffs was a bigger factor in my opinion. Say for instance Acuna stayed healthy and we added a Pederson or a Duvall, you can pitch around Acuna. When you had 4 additions ALL hot, there was no where to go in the lineup for an easy out

[NYCBrave]

Of course we will never know. But adding Pederson, Duvall, Rosario, and Soler and having all 4 get hot going into the playoffs was a bigger factor in my opinion. Say for instance Acuna stayed healthy and we added a Pederson or a Duvall, you can pitch around Acuna. When you had 4 additions ALL hot, there was no where to go in the lineup for an easy out

The thing is, we've seen plenty of Braves stars not hit during the playoffs. It had almost become a Braves tradition. So Acuna could have easily slumped through the playoffs and taken the spot of the guys who ended up getting hot instead. No way of really knowing.

[thethe]

Its unlikely in the first place to win the world series so I think smart money is that we would not have won if Acuna had stayed healthy. Doesn't mean anything in regards to Acuna's ability but we just had a lot of guys that struck lighting in a bottle.