The trade deadline is coming, and the Atlanta Braves will be one of the most intriguing teams to watch.
We know the Braves will be sellers at this point, but the question is to what degree. They’ve got names like Sean Murphy, Chris Sale, and Ozzie Albies who could be highly intriguing to teams around the league and whose contracts include team control for 2026.
However, if the Braves don’t want to shake up the roster much before next season, they could just stick to moving their rentals, which might be the most likely outcome. In that case, all eyes will be on Marcell Ozuna.
The 34-year-old Ozuna has been playing through a hip injury for most of the season, and it seems to have zapped his power. He’s also limited to designated hitter duties, and recently got benched in favor of a catcher/DH tandem of Murphy and Drake Baldwin.
Still, on Thursday, Sports Illustrated’s Nick Selbe and Will Laws predicted that the Braves would ship Ozuna to the Detroit Tigers, the American League Central leaders who have slipped up on offense after the All-Star break.
“After mashing 79 homers over the last two seasons and finishing fourth in NL MVP voting last year, Ozuna’s power has significantly fallen off in his age-34 season, though he’s partially compensated by trailing only Juan Soto in walk rate (16.2%),” wrote Laws and Selbe.
“The Braves have just about run out of time to get hot and Ozuna is one of their only two pending free agents along with reliever Raisel Iglesias, who after quietly unleashing a 16-outing scoreless streak allowed four runs to the Yankees to take his sixth loss of the season on Saturday.”
The Tigers are only 14th in team on-base percentage, so perhaps adding in Ozuna could be a real improvement. They’re one of the better teams at hitting against lefties, but it couldn’t hurt to add one more righty bat.
For the Braves, it’s a question of return. They might have to choose between a prospect close to the majors with a low ceiling, or a more talented youngster with a long way to go before the big leagues.