ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves are bringing back Marcell Ozuna and signing the slugger to a $ 64 million four-year deal.
The Braves announced the deal on Friday-evening for the NL home run and RBI-leader 2020, less than two weeks before pitchers and catchers will sign up for spring practice. The contract includes a fifth year club option of $ 16 million, which would bring it to $ 80 million with a $ 1 million buyout, which would bring Ozuna $ 65 million in guaranteed money.
Ozuna took a chance after the 2019 season, turned down a $ 17.8 million qualifier offer from the St. Louis Cardinals and signed a one-year $ 18 million deal with the Braves in late January. The move paid off, as the slugger finished sixth in the National League MVP voting after leading the league with 18 homeruns, 56 RBI’s and 145 total bases. He came third in NL with a best batting average of .338 and a slugging percentage of .636.
The bet? The Cardinals’ eligible $ 17.8 million offer would represent 41% of his career earnings to date.
While Ozuna, who turned 30 in November, is considered somewhat of a defensive liability after sustaining a shoulder injury in 2018, he saw some leftfield action for the Braves playing all 60 games during the pandemic-shortened season. However, most of his at-bats for Atlanta came as the team’s designated hitter, who was pitched after MVP Freddie Freeman in the lineup when the Braves won the NL East title after having some of the best offensive numbers in team history had put down.
Before joining the Braves, Ozuna spent two seasons with the Cardinals, protecting Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup when they made it to the 2019 playoffs. runs, making two All-Star Games based on his bat.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Ozuna has 357 RBIs, second only to the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado (384) and just ahead of Freeman (343) among National League players, according to research from ESPN Stats & Information.
In eight MLB seasons, he has a .276 batting average with 166 home runs, 594 RBI’s and 505 runs for the Marlins, Cardinals and Braves.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.