The Atlanta Braves' collapse has made the trade deadline a much more interesting proposition in Major League Baseball.
This was supposed to be a Braves team that competed for a spot in the World Series. Instead, they're 9 1/2 games out of playoff position, looking for all the world like surefire sellers.
It's been shocking to witness, but the Braves can still salvage some future value from this season by making smart trades, if they're willing. And their three-time All-Star designated hitter may be their best bet to net them some prospect capital.
Marcell Ozuna isn't having a very Marcell Ozuna-like season, with a .757 OPS and only 12 home runs through 87 games. But the 34-year-old designated hitter could still be of interest to a handful of teams.
On Wednesday, Chad Jennings, Tim Britton, and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic listed Ozuna on their "trade deadline big board" and named three possible landing spots: the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers.
"Is Atlanta finally ready to call it quits on 2025? Another losing streak and two more pitcher injuries have its playoff odds in single digits. As an impending free agent who slugged 79 homers the last two years, Ozuna makes sense as the first piece to go," the authors wrote.
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"However, outside of a significant jump in walk rate, everything else is down this season. He’s on pace for barely 20 homers as a strict DH, and he’s been in a deep slump for more than a month. Ozuna also has 10-and-5 rights, allowing him to veto any trade."
The authors also indicated that they believe Ozuna is likely to be traded by assigning him a green light on a traffic signal scale for the probability of a potential move.
Seattle, from a neutral observer's perspective, would seem to make the most sense, as they're the most desperate of the three to simply make a playoff bid, and their DH spot is reasonably unclogged.
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