Atlanta Braves Make Logical Marcell Ozuna Contract Decision

The Atlanta Braves made one of the easier decisions when it comes to designated hitter Marcell Ozuna's contract.

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna will be with the club another year. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves reportedly plan to exercise designated hitter Marcell Ozuna’s $16-million option for 2025. 

Despite having two designated hitters on the roster with the acquisition of Jorge Soler, he’s part of the future plans, per USA Today MLB Columnist Bob Nightengale. 

With the offensive showing, it shouldn’t come as any surprise. 

Ozuna is the lone position player All-Star for the Braves in 2024 and participated in the Home Run Derby. His 86 RBIs lead the National League and his .300 batting average and 32 home runs only trail Shohei Ohtani, who has 33 home runs and is batting .306, putting Ozuna very much in the hunt for the first NL batting Triple Crown since 1937.

The Braves need all the outfield bats they can get. They acquired Soler knowing they had Ozuna in the DH spot. It’s becoming clear they simply need the options.

“I think the one thing we’ve seen the last few years is, you’re going to need more than three [outfielders], and injuries are part of it,” Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. 

Since arriving in Atlanta, Soler has been playing right field and batting leadoff, and that will likely stay that way until Ronald Acuna Jr. returns next season. 

Atlanta’s outfielders have been hitting .204 (29th in baseball) with an MLB-worst .606 OPS since Ronald Acuña suffered a season-ending torn ACL, with the third-worst batting average (.208) and OPS (.631) among leadoff hitters.

We’ve seen the result of having few options this season, especially when in-house options have down years on top of it. 

While Soler is indeed a liability in right field, the Braves see value in his with his arm strength. 

“It’s hard to find on-base with power and plus makeup,” Anthopoulos said. “The fact that Jorge can play right field. I think people think (it’s only) corner outfield, and we don’t necessarily view it that way. Not all corner outfield is viewed the same. A lot of players in baseball can play left field only, because they don’t have arm strength and so on. The fact that Jorge has some arm strength as well makes an option in right.”

Soler is under contract for the next two seasons. So an option for the Braves is they can slide him over to left field next season with Acuna in right, Harris in center and Ozuna as the DH.