The Atlanta Braves have been eliminated from the MLB playoffs, and as poor an offensive showing as it was for the Braves, they still had a very successful 2026 campaign, and the offseason is now for Atlanta.
There is surely going to be a lot of outcry from the Braves fanbase after several of their offensive stars did not show up against the Dodgers. One of those players was Ronald Acuña Jr.
Ronald Acuña Jr. could be the subject of trade speculation this offseason as the Braves will be at a crossroads with his contract after the 2027 season.
However, during the Braves-Dodgers series, a piece of off-field news surfaced surrounding Acuña Jr.
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Ronald Acuña Jr. Partners with Kalshi Trading Company
According to reports from TheAthletic, Ronald Acuña Jr. has partnered with Kalshi.
Reporter Andrew Baggarly wrote (about Acuña Jr.):
“Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. has partnered with Kalshi, making him the first Major League Baseball player to venture into the potentially thorny area of prediction markets. It’s a thicket that continues to grow. Kalshi’s first deal with an MLB player comes less than two months after the company announced it had partnered with five major-league teams: the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Braves.”
It’s certainly a gray area in the sport, but with the influx of sports gambling advertisements and other star athletes in other sports getting involved, it was only a matter of time before it reached Major League Baseball.
It will be very interesting to see if other star athletes on other teams start to follow suit.
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What’s Next for Ronald Acuña Jr.?
The timing of this report is quite poetic, as it surfaced in the waning moments of the Braves season, and Ronald Acuña Jr. is enduring a very brutal slump, which will only subject him to further flak.
The Braves season is now over, so there’s no telling what’s next for RAJ.
He isn’t the superstar player he once was for Atlanta, and his role could potentially change in the 2027 season.
Across 24 playoff at-bats, Ronald Acuña Jr. recorded three hits, four runs scored, and zero extra-base hits.
As for the Braves and how this affects them as a team/organization, Kalshi is in talks with a league-wide deal, which means there will likely be an influx of in-stadium activations regarding Kalshi in the future seasons.
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