The Atlanta Braves cannot keep loathsome Marcell Ozuna on their roster for very much longer.
At some point, the Atlanta Braves are just going to have to bite the bullet and cut bait with Marcell Ozuna, despite his albatross of a contract.
Ozuna’s four-year deal signed back in February 2021 will go down as the worst move general manager Alex Anthopoulos ever made. It probably played a part in Atlanta not being able to re-sign Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson to the dollar amounts they coveted. Either way, the Braves pretty much have another two seasons full of putrid, festering garbage on their payroll.
With no defensive value, infuriating off-the-field drama and an inability to hit a beach ball sitting on a tee, Atlanta needs to accept the Ozuna abomination as a sunk cost and just freaking move on.
If the Arizona Diamondbacks can part ways with a failing Madison Bumgarner, the Braves can do the same with their rotational designated hitter who can no longer hit the broad side of a barn.
Atlanta Braves need to really think about DFA’ing Marcell Ozuna already this year
Not to say he will be designated from assignment once catcher Travis d’Arnaud finally clears concussion protocol, or even when Michael Harris II works his way back from a bothersome back, but this blatant ineptitude at the plate should not turn Truist Park into the rocking arena that hosts Boofest on the reg. Chadwick Tromp and Eli White will get optioned down before Ozuna is ever cut.
Frankly, the Braves just need to accept that they cannot cry poor over this. If they view themselves as a championship-caliber organization with a top-five payroll in the sport, you’re just gonna have to take an L, bud. I distinctly remember how great it felt when y’all dumped Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton. Tears of joy streamed down my face like a Coldplay song when y’all let Fredi Gonzalez go.
So yeah, we’d all be in favor of this. We want you to pull the trigger, push the red button, whatever.
One day, the Braves’ front office is going to look down at the spreadsheets during a game, look up when they hear the boo birds popping and see their overpaid rotational designated hitter lollygag to first base after hitting the ball off the end of his bat back to the pitcher at a whopping 14 miles per hour. Channel your inner Fahrenheit 451, burn that book and fire him like the firemen you are!
I’m not saying I can hit .078 a full 15 years into my baseball retirement, but I’d like the opportunity.