With Marcell Ozuna hitting the free agency market at the end of the campaign, it can’t be ruled out that he could be traded at the deadline.Â
The Atlanta Braves have simply not been playing the baseball they were hoping for entering the year, resulting in a very disappointing campaign for a team that had a chance to win a World Series, on paper. At 27-32, 3-7 over their last 10 games, and in fourth place in the National League East behind the rebuilding Washington Nationals, things have been as ugly as ever for Atlanta.Â
That makes moving somebody like Ozuna even easier, especially with the return he could potentially get.Â
Ozuna would be a rental due to his free agency situation, but The Athletic recently predicted that he’d be the one player the Braves could look to move at the end of July, showing teams wonât mind that heâd be a rental.Â
âLook, the assumption here â and just about everywhere, it seems â is that the Braves eventually are going to get on a roll that makes the playoffs a foregone conclusion,â they wrote. âAnd when they do, thereâs just no way theyâre going to trade away the second- or third-best DH in baseball. But two months into the season, theyâre still a sub-.500 team with a 50-50 shot of making the playoffs.Â
âThe Twins have far better playoff odds, and the lowly Washington Nationals moved ahead of the Braves in the standings this weekend. Ozuna, meanwhile, is approaching free agency while posting typically excellent offensive numbers, though he recently revealed he is playing through a hip injury. What if this Braves run to relevance never materializes? Wouldnât Ozuna have to be on the trade block?â
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The right-handed slugger has continued to impress throughout the 2025 campaign. The hip injury is somewhat concerning, but Ozuna still has 10 home runs, 48 walks, which lead the National League, a .278 batting average, and a 149 OPS+.Â
If he’s available, there will be many teams around the league interested in trading for him.
