Braves missing top prospect for opener

ATLANTA — For the Atlanta Braves, opening day still feels like it’s a few weeks away.

Atlanta opens the season today against the Philadelphia Phillies at SunTrust Park.

But the Braves are still a team in transition.

Alex Anthopoulos took over as general manager after John Coppolella was fired — and banned for life by Major League Baseball — for ignoring rules on signing international players, an embarrassing scandal that also cost Atlanta several top prospects and will prevent the team from bargaining at full strength for Latin American players until 2021.

The Braves are coming off their fourth straight losing season (72-90) and still appear at least a year or two away from being a serious playoff contender.

But hope is on the way. Twenty-year-old Ronald Acuna is perhaps baseball’s top prospect, an outfielder who hit .325 with 21 homers, 82 RBIs and 44 stolen bases while working his way up from Class A to Triple-A last season. He continued to dazzle in the Arizona Fall League, then sent the hype into overdrive by batting .432 with four homers in spring training.

Acuna is clearly ready for the big leagues, but he’ll be right up the road at Triple-A Gwinnett until at least April 13. By delaying his big league debut, the Braves push back Acuna’s eligibility for free agency by a full year.