There aren’t many more confusing teams around Major League Baseball than the Atlanta Braves. The team hasn’t played up to their standards throughout the first 25 games of the Season, sitting at 11-14. However, the Braves have gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, perhaps a step in the right direction as they look to battle back from last place in the National League East.
In the event that the Braves continue to struggle at some point and fall out of the playoff picture before the deadline, there could be a scenario where they decide to move on from their top guys.
One of them could be Marcell Ozuna, who is set to hit the free agency market at the end of the season.
Ozuna, playing on a five-year, $80 million deal, will likely get a similar contract on the open market next winter.
If the Braves want to move on from him and are willing to trade him anywhere, the New York Mets would be the ideal team for him to play for. Ozuna, who has 106 home runs since the 2022 season, would fit in perfectly in this Mets lineup.
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David Schoenfield of ESPN believes he could be traded at the deadline if they don’t improve, adding that his contract situation could be something to consider.
“It would be shocking not to see the Braves recover from this slow start, but if they don’t, Ozuna would be a fascinating player to consider. He’s in the final year of a five-year deal and the Braves already have a lot of future commitments on the books, so there’s no guarantee he’ll re-sign with Atlanta, especially since his production warrants a bigger salary than the $16 million he’s making this year.
“Ozuna was one of the best hitters in baseball last year and is off to an even better start in 2025, so while he’s limited to DH, he would fill a middle-of-the-order need for a DH-starved club (and given the lack of offense across the majors, this is a long list),” he wrote.
The Mets would have to give up a few of their top prospects, and the Braves might not be too interested in any of them.
The Mets’ farm system is above average, but they wouldn’t have much of a reason to trade guys like Brandon Sproat and a few others for a potential rental.
However, if they could move guys like Drew Gilbert, Ronny Mauricio, and others in that 10-15 prospect range, it could be a move that benefits both sides.
