The Atlanta Braves could solve their Marcell Ozuna problem by overloading with shortstops.
With Orlando Arcia working his way back from a fractured wrist, the Atlanta Braves will need to make a roster adjustment here shortly.
Without any cognition or tact, one would assume Vaughn Grissom would be sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett and Arcia would take over the starting shortstop role. While this seems logical, there might be a better option for the Braves to consider. It would require general manager Alex Anthopoulos swallowing his pride and cutting bait with his rusty boat anchor in Marcell Ozuna.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman outlined why keeping Grissom up at least temporarily as the Braves’ designated hitter could make more sense than watching persona non grata do whatever he does.
Let’s discuss these ramifications and if this should be the way for the Braves to go from here.
Atlanta Braves could solve Marcell Ozuna problem with positional overload
As Bowman stated this is a “good problem to have.” Arcia hinted he could be back in time for the Braves’ weekend series vs. the Baltimore Orioles, but his ETA might be two weeks out. Regardless, that is quite the turnaround for a guy who broke his wrist, albeit on his non-throwing hand. Keep in mind that Braden Shewmake is raking and flashing the leather down in Triple-A right now, too.
With Michael Harris II returning from back issues in the rain-soaked New York Mets series, the only other position player of note the Braves are monitoring to return besides Arcia is catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who is still trying to work his way back from the concussion he suffered in early April on a vicious slide at the plate from San Diego Padres infield Rougned Odor. It was so dirty…
The reason d’Arnaud’s return is significant in all this is he will take Chadwick Tromp’s spot back on the roster, but would probably man the DH role more often than not in games that Sean Murphy is behind the dish. Ideally, the Atlanta backstop tandem would see one DH when he is not calling the game, rendering Ozuna even more useless than normal. This is why retaining Grissom feels right.
Not to say we need to DFA Ozuna yesterday because that is a lost cause at this point, but keeping Grissom up on the major-league roster will afford him the opportunity to keep his bat in the lineup, continue to do work with infield coach Ron Washington and allow for d’Arnaud to not hurry back from his concussion. All the while, it will get even harder to find a way to keep Ozuna around.
Ultimately, if the Braves are serious about winning the National League and getting back to the World Series, they need to move on from Ozuna. He is a walking out who provides no defensive value with rampant off-the-field issues. I wish him the best elsewhere, but he has long outstayed his welcome. You want to breed positivity into a winning culture, and Grissom will accentuate that.
The puzzle is coming together in Atlanta, but these pieces are constantly changing in making it fit.