The Atlanta Braves find themselves in unusual territory after spiraling for the last couple weeks. For now, they still view themselves as in it, even after a historic gut punch on Friday. If this continues, that could change.
Should that change, some veterans could find themselves on the block ahead of the trade deadline. With the speculation growing, Bleacher Report listed some pending Braves free agents who could shake up the deadline, including designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
Also included were closer Raisel Iglesias, reliever Rafael Montero and outfielder Alex Verdugo. While they are options, Ozuna is the only one who will be seriously pursued by teams if available. That being said, he shakes things up all on his own.
“In Marcell Ozuna alone, though, Atlanta could introduce one heck of an unexpected variable into this year’s deadline proceedings,” Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote.
Currently, there are no valid rumors that he’s going anywhere. This is simply a discussion of how things could play out based on the Braves’ current trajectory. When a team is seven games under .500 in June and seven games back from a playoff spot, the possibility is going to start gaining traction.
Ozuna enters Monday with a .272 average and a .869 OPS and 145 OPS+. He’s not who he was entering last season’s all-star break, but he’s still a valuable bat. Being exclusively a designated hitter could limit the market a tad, but it shouldn’t be by much.
“The fact that he has only played 14 innings in the field since the end of 2022 is a bit of a wrinkle that effectively eliminates any team that already has a full-time DH,” Miller wrote. “But an Ozuna rental would spark quite the bidding war all the same.”
It’s stating the obvious, but the next few weeks will decide if this is a move that makes sense or not. If the Braves find themselves even remotely in it come the deadline, then he’s not going anywhere. It wouldn’t make sense to ditch one their most consistent bats in that case. This is a move indicating they’ve thrown in the towel. On the flip side, if they are throwing in the towel on this season, then keeping Ozuna does nothing to help them.
He’s a pending free agent at 34 years old. There’s a chance they move on from him anyway. Might as well get something out of him if the season is written off.
Ozuna leaving isn’t an indicator of a rebuild coming either. They still have talent. Coaching changes and roster upgrades over the offseason could put them back into contention immediately in 2026. This assumes those changes happen, but if they finish near the bottom of the National League and stars, like Ozuna, are traded, then you’d think it forces their hand into making those decisions.
