Every Major League Baseball team wants to have a good June, but the Atlanta Braves might need one the most.
At 27-31, the Braves sit in fourth place in the National League East and 5 1/2 games out of playoff position. They've been one of the biggest disappointments of the season so far, but there's still time to turn it around.
Atlanta hopes to hit the ground running in June with a healthy Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider. But if things continue to go sideways, the noise might start to get loud approaching the July trade deadline.
The most obvious trade chip the Braves have is designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, who leads the majors in walks and would be a massive addition to almost any lineup. But are the Braves really going to move him?
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, it's a scenario that's very much on the table. Passan named the Braves among the "tweeners" at this year's deadline on Tuesday, while saying Ozuna would be their biggest piece to move.
"The Braves very easily could find themselves in the acquire category. Their on-paper lineup is one of baseball's best," Passan wrote. "An 0-7 start hamstrung them, though, and the Braves have been just OK since.
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"There's a nonzero chance Alex Anthopoulos, Atlanta's aggressive president of baseball operations, sees this season not as an anomaly but a continuation of last year and entertains moving one of the Braves' core players. Absent that, in Ozuna, an impending free agent, the Braves have perhaps the best bat that could be available."
Ozuna, 34, has an impressive .284/.427/.474 slash line this season. He's making $16 million on the club option the Braves exercised after his excellent 2024 campaign.
There will be a record the Braves can have at the deadline that's bad enough for Anthopoulos to decide Ozuna needs to go. The question is how bad that record must be.
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