19h56: The Braves designated an outfielder Kyle Garlick by assignment to make room on the list of 40 men for Ozuna’s rehiring, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic. Formerly a Dodger and Phillie, Garlick joined the Braves as a resignation claim on January 23.
19h27: The Braves are rehiring outfielder Marcell Ozuna for a four-year contract, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. The club announced the move, and it’s a $ 65 million guarantee that could reach $ 80 million if the Braves choose an option in year 5, for Robert Murray from Fansided. Hector Gomez reported on Friday that Ozuna was close to returning to Atlanta. The purchase in 2025 is worth $ 1 million, Craig Mish from SportsGrid relays. Ozuna is a customer of CAA Sports.
This is a huge increase for Ozuna, a former Marlin and Cardinal who accumulated an above-average production history on a $ 18 million guarantee with Braves last winter. It ended up being a great Atlanta move, as Ozuna hit a monstrous .338 / .431 / .636 with 18 home runs in 60 games and 267 plate appearances. Along with his stellar bottom line numbers, Ozuna ranked as an elite hitter by Statcast standards.
If there is any criticism of Ozuna 2020, it is that he did not play much in defense, only lining up on the field 21 times during a year in which the National League had the universally designated hitter. It is not yet clear whether the NL will maintain HD in 2021, but even if it does not, the Braves will bet on the offensive skills of Ozuna, 30, who will remain intact. The consecutive NL East champions clearly needed to either re-sign Ozuna or take another big bat to replace him this season, and now they have managed to retain one of the biggest MLB hitters.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos is not known for signing long-term contracts with players, but he made an exception in this case to maintain the attack built around Ozuna, 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr. Braves made notable hires as a free agent before adding entries Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly in shorter pacts. Considering what Braves did in this off-season, they should be a force again at NL East next season, although the Mets, Nationals, Phillies and Marlins should make it difficult for the division to win again.
The MLB offseason had an incredibly slow start, but the top free agents have flown off the board in recent weeks. Ozuna’s rehiring means that none of the top 10 MLBTR free agents since the beginning of winter will be out of a job. MLBTR ranked Ozuna in fourth place among the available players and predicted that he would win a $ 72 million deal for four years.