As the Atlanta Braves continue their downward spiral, the trade deadline offers an opportunity to replenish their farm system.<\/p>\n
The Braves are a dozen games out of the last Wild Card playoff spot and have lost five of their previous six games. With the trade deadline only two days away, the Braves are looking to unload players on expiring contracts, like three-time All-Star Marcell Ozuna.<\/p>\n
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Ozuna can veto any trade, but has already stated he would accept a trade to any team that would guarantee playing time. With that in mind, Just Baseball’s\u00a0Jay Staph and Ryan Finkelstein predict that the Braves will trade Ozuna to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for\u00a0pitching prospect Michael Morales.<\/p>\n
“The Seattle Mariners already added one big bat to their lineup by trading with the Arizona Diamondbacks for first baseman Josh Naylor. Reports indicate that they have their sights set on Eugenio Suarez as well, but the competition for Suarez is thick,”\u00a0wrote Staph and Finkelstein.<\/p>\n
“Assuming another team lands Suarez, the Mariners will be left looking through a barren market to find bats. Which could make Marcell Ozuna an attractive flier to plug into their DH spot.\u00a0In this deal, the Braves would receive Michael Morales, a right-handed starting pitcher in Double-A who has a 4.50 ERA in 14 starts this season. At 22 years old, Morales is a good project for the Braves to take on in a trade like this.”<\/p>\n
Follow The Sporting News On WhatsApp<\/strong><\/p>\n Any return for the Braves in a trade for Ozuna would be good, as the 34-year-old will be a free agent at the end of the season. The Mariners hold one of the American League Wild Card playoff spots and could use another power bat in their lineup like Ozuna.<\/p>\n More MLB:\u00a0Red Sox skipper hints at potential trade deadline changes<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the Atlanta Braves likely to trade Marcell Ozuna before the trade deadline, are the Seattle Mariners the perfect trade partner?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":72248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[81,71,2188,314,1116,2716,2717,293,2654,2718],"class_list":["post-72247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-eugenio-suarez","tag-josh-naylor","tag-marcell-ozuna","tag-michael-morales","tag-ryan-finkelstein","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-trade-deadline","tag-wild-card-playoff-spot"],"yoast_head":"\n