At long last, the Atlanta Braves are promoting outfielder Ronald Acuna to the majors, per MLB.com's Mark Bowman:

Acuna, considered baseball's top prospect by most every publication, made a strong case for inclusion on Atlanta's Opening Day roster during the spring. Yet the Braves, citing developmental needs, demoted Acuna, who in turn responded by hitting .215/.301/.277 with 20 strikeouts in 73 Triple-A plate appearances.

The Braves apparently saw Acuna make the desired progress during that time. Of course, if we're being honest, that's not what happened. Demoting Acuna was always about suppressing his service time in the name of retaining his services for a year longer. The Braves accomplished just that by waiting until now to bring Acuna to the majors, as Ken Rosenthal recently explained:

Because Acuna wasn't on the 40-man roster, he wasn't subjected to the rules that state an optioned player will receive credit for the interim service time if his assignment lasts fewer than 20 days. Hence his promotion. Acuna could still qualify for Super Two status, meaning he'll net an additional year of arbitration. But that was never the Braves' aim.

To be clear, the Braves aren't special in this regard. Almost every team is playing the same game. The exceptions are limited to, what, the Miami Marlins and Lewis Brinson; the Los Angeles Angels and Shohei Ohtani; and the Philadelphia Phillies and Scott Kingery? And Ohtani and Kingery are special cases, with the latter ensuring he'd head north with the club by signing a long-term extension. This is, for better or worse, just how baseball works in 2018. 

On the bright side, Acuna is a special talent. His MLB.com scouting report projects that he could have five plus tools -- hitting for average and power, running, fielding, and throwing -- while stating he has an "almost limitless ceiling." Considering Acuna won't turn 21 until December, that's high praise. Now it's time for him to make good on those words.