Free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a four-year deal worth $65 million, the team announced. The contract includes a $15 million club option that would make the deal for five years and $80 million.
#Braves Sign OF Marcell Ozuna: pic.twitter.com/z1j5jbCAdG
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) February 6, 2021
Ozuna, 30, hit .338/.431/.636 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI in 60 games in 2020. Ozuna finished atop the National League leaderboard for home runs and RBI. He was just 13 batting average points short of winning the National League Triple Crown this past season. Ozuna played 39 games as a designated hitter last year.
CBS Sports ranked Ozuna as the sixth-best free agent available this winter. Following the Braves' announcement of the deal, third baseman Justin Turner is the remaining free agent in our top 10. Here's what we had to say about the slugger:
Ozuna bet on himself last winter by foregoing a multi-year pact in favor of a one-year deal. His reasoning was sound -- a big season would equal a bigger payday -- and at the time he had no way of knowing the league's economics would go to hell because of a global pandemic. Whatever the monetary value of the contract he signs is, Ozuna should take heart in knowing that he held up his end of the equation. He hit .338/.431/.636 with 18 home runs in 60 games. No free agent had a higher maximum exit velocity than Ozuna, and only one (Joc Pederson) tied or had a better average exit velocity. It's fair to wonder if this version of him is here to stay, just as it's fair to have concerns about his defense and his swing-and-miss tendencies. At the same time, he's consistently been an above-average hitter throughout his career, and most long-term contracts signed this winter will probably look like relative bargains two or three years down the road.
Ozuna opted for a one-year deal instead of a multi-year pact last winter. He signed with the Braves for one-year, $18 million. He was not eligible for the qualifying offer this winter after receiving it last year. Now, the slugger gets his multi-year deal, and will return to the Braves as they look to defend their NL East title. This offseason, Atlanta also added starters Drew Smyly and Charlie Morton.
The delay to determine whether there will be a universal designated hitter for the 2021 MLB season likely contributed to Ozuna's delay to reach a deal. If the universal DH is to be put in place again in 2021 and become permanent with the next collective-bargaining agreement in 2022, that would presumably have made National League clubs more comfortable signing Ozuna long-term. With less than three weeks until spring training, there is still no official announcement regarding universal DH for the 2021 season.
If the designated hitter is not approved in the NL, Ozuna will likely serve as Atlanta's primary left fielder in 2021. The club had an opening in left field after it non-tendered Adam Duvall earlier this offseason. Although Ozuna is, quite frankly, a defensive liability in the outfield, the Braves clearly determined his power at the plate and peak years still ahead of him were worth it in the end.
