The New York Mets have spent the Steve Cohen era chasing the kind of high-ceiling talent that can turn a deep roster into a championship contender, and Ronald Acuña Jr. still fits that description even after a disappointing postseason.
Acuña, a five-time All-Star and former NL MVP, remains under team control through the 2028 season via club options the Braves are expected to exercise at a relatively modest $17 million per year.
For a Mets club that finished well out of the playoff picture in 2026, adding a dynamic right fielder with proven power and speed would address an area of need while pairing with the existing core.
Yet Atlanta has little incentive to move him, and any Mets package would face an uphill battle to get the conversation started.
As John Perrotto of FanSided wrote, the Mets could open with left-hander Zac Thornton, the 24-year-old who posted a 5-6 record and 3.32 ERA across 15 starts in his rookie campaign and remains under team control through 2032.
To strengthen the offer, New York might also include 19-year-old middle-infield prospect Bruin Agbayani, acquired at the 2026 trade deadline from the Twins in the deal that sent A.J. Minter the other way. Agbayani, the son of former Mets outfielder Benny Agbayani, was a sixth-round pick out of Honolulu and has drawn interest for his bat-to-ball skills and athleticism, though injuries have limited him to just 18 professional games.
The organization has already pushed him to the Arizona Fall League, a sign of their belief in his upside, and he ranks around 28th or 30th in the system according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.
That combination is intriguing on paper but almost certainly insufficient. Thornton showed solid command and run prevention in limited innings, yet he is not a frontline starter or a high-upside arm who would force Atlanta to seriously consider parting with Acuña.
Agbayani carries the emotional appeal of the family connection and tools that could develop into a useful regular, but he remains years from contributing and has barely faced advanced competition.
Front offices evaluating Acuña have already expressed skepticism about paying a premium for a player coming off major knee surgeries on both legs and a postseason in which he went cold against the Phillies and Dodgers. The perception that his effort can be inconsistent only lowers his trade value further.
Cohen’s willingness to spend has never been the issue in Queens; the challenge has always been assembling the right mix of controllable talent without emptying the system.
Moving Thornton would create a hole in a young rotation that needs depth, while parting with Agbayani would trim one of the few recent additions to a farm that has been leveraged in prior deals.
Even if the Braves were open to listening, the Mets would likely need to include a higher-ceiling prospect or established major-league piece they do not appear eager to surrender.
For now, Acuña remains a fantasy more than a realistic target, one that underscores the gap between the Mets’ ambition and the assets required to land a player of his caliber.
