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One year in, is Ronald Acuña Jr. ready to claim Best Player in Baseball title?



Ronald Acuña Jr. signed with the Braves for $100,000. He was supposed to be a Kansas City Royal, but the Braves swooped in on international signing day, July 2, with a heftier bonus offer. Atlanta soon recognized its fortune. The entire industry, which devoted tens of millions of dollars annually to teenagers from Latin America, had whiffed on Acuña. He was the Braves' little secret.

And now, a year after his debut, when he has guaranteed himself 1,000 times that original signing bonus and established himself as everything the Braves thought he could be and more, and all that's left for him to capture are the game's crown jewels -- the MVP trophy, the World Series ring and the title that can be held by just one person at a time.

Best Player in Baseball.

Mike Trout is the current Best Player in Baseball. [And Acuna's] all-around game mirrors Trout's as much as any young player's. Everything is seen through the prism of Acuña's youth because what he's doing is so extraordinary for someone this young. Baseball is a sport that never has shied away from promoting its youngest players, so for Acuña to position himself amid that group -- and to do it as consistently as he has -- speaks to the scouting community's belief that he is Trout's heir.

His start to 2019 has done nothing to dissuade them. In the second half last season, Acuña hit .322/.403/.625 with 19 home runs. Thus far this year, he is hitting .307/.429/.600 with six home runs. Yes: That's a 1.028 OPS in the second half of 2018 and a 1.029 OPS so far in 2019. Acuña's walk rate is up 40 percent this year. He's hitting more home runs per plate appearance. He's one of the 15 fastest players in the game. He could play center field, and play it well, if not for Ender Inciarte, who for the last three years has played it extremely well for Atlanta.

He is everything everyone wants in a baseball player. And he turned 21 four months ago.