ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves are bringing Marcell Ozuna back, signing a $ 64 million four-year contract with the slugger.
Braves announced the deal for the 2020 NL home run and RBI leader on Friday night, less than two weeks before pitchers and catchers show up for spring training. The contract includes a $ 16 million fifth-year club option that would take him to $ 80 million with a $ 1 million purchase, which would earn Ozuna $ 65 million in guaranteed cash.
Ozuna bet on himself after the 2019 season, declining a $ 17.8 million qualifying offer from the St. Louis Cardinals, and signed a one-year, $ 18 million contract with Braves in late January. The change paid off, as the hitter finished sixth in the National League MVP vote, after leading the league with 18 home runs, 56 RBIs and 145 bases in total. He was third in the NL with the best batting average of 0.338 and 0.636 batting percentage.
The bet? The $ 17.8 million qualifying offer by the Cardinals would represent 41% of his career earnings up to that point.
Although he is considered a defensive risk after suffering a shoulder injury in 2018, Ozuna, who turned 30 in November, saw some action on Braves’ left field when playing all 60 games during the season shortened by the pandemic. However, most of his hitting for Atlanta came as the team’s designated hitter, after MVP Freddie Freeman in the lineup when Braves won the NL East title after presenting some of the best offensive numbers in the team’s history.
Before joining Braves, Ozuna spent two seasons with the Cardinals, protecting Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup as they returned to the playoffs in 2019. In the past five seasons, including the 60-game season in 2020, Ozuna has reached 130 runs, making two All-Star Games with the strength of your stick.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Ozuna has 357 RBIs, second only to Rockies’ Nolan Arenado (384) and just ahead of Freeman (343) among National League players, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
In eight MLB seasons, he has a batting average of 0.276 with 166 home runs, 594 RBIs and 505 races scheduled for the Marlins, Cardinals and Braves.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.