Why the Marcell Ozuna deal is good for the Atlanta Braves

Well the Atlanta Braves nabbed up their new clean up hitter Tuesday evening as they agreed to a 1 year deal with Marcell Ozuna.

Again, the deal is for 1 year and $18 million. It seems as if Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta Braves are trying a formula that worked so well with another player last season.

That right there seems to be the kicker for most on this deal. Some people will argue there is no such thing as a bad 1-year deal. Well if that’s the case, the Atlanta Braves just pulled off a small coup.

At the beginning of the offseason, the Atlanta Braves were linked to Marcell Ozuna and I was one of the few who seemed excited at that notion.

However, that was with the caveat that it would be for multiple years and just a few million less per year than what was recently agreed upon. This is now a steal for the Atlanta Braves in my eyes.

It does a couple of things here for the Braves. Obviously one is now Atlanta has a power threat behind Freddie Freeman who will protect him and not allow the other teams to walk him and let him take first north of 100 times a season.

Second, it erases the thought of an Adam Duvall and Nick Markakis platoon in left field, which is another good thing.

We will have more on that shortly. Of course, that could still change with a potential Ender Inciarte trade as well.

Ozuna is fresh off a two-year Cardinals stint where he was a one-man wrecking crew against the Atlanta Braves just a few short months ago in the postseason.

As many will remember from his old Miami Marlins days, he has a ton of power and is a two-time All-Star.

His best season was without a doubt in 2017 when he finished in the top 15 of MVP voting, earned an All-Star berth, silver slugger award, and a Gold Glove.

The one downfall to Ozuna’s game in St. Louis was his batting average in 2019 was .241, but his career average is .272.

His numbers should go north now that he is on a team with the likes of Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna, and Ozzie Albies. He should have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs.

Some will still long for Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, or Starling Marte but it seems as if the Atlanta Braves might just have fine-tuning to do now.

Arenado was always going to be a long shot at best, and it seems as if the Braves just did not seem excited at the thought of trading young players for the other two mentioned.

With that said, that is the last good bit of news regarding this signing. It costs the Atlanta Braves zero prospects to get this signing done.

Atlanta still has a ton of high-end prospects beaming at the ready. The Braves have a ton of options going forward, and now they also have another power bat to trot out in 2020.

Let us know in the comments below if you are excited about this signing.