The Atlanta Braves could be in the market for starting pitching near the deadline. Spencer Strider is back on the injured list, and the Braves need an elite arm if they want to make a postseason push.
The Braves have started the season off performing below expectations. However, with Ronald Acuńa Jr. nearing a return, the tide could shift quickly. Regardless of the impact adding Acuña will have on the offense, the Braves will need to do something about the starting rotation. Strider went on the injured list after suffering a hamstring strain during a catch session. Newsweek’s Jon Vankin proposed the idea of the Braves sending Marcell Ozuna to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Sandy Alcántara.
“Atlanta could part with veteran outfielder and three-time All-Star Marcell Ozuna as part of a package to land Alcántara,” wrote Vankin. “Ozuna is in the final season of a four-year, $65 million contract. Swapping Alcántara for Ozuna would allow the Marlins to save the final year on the 29-year-old hurler’s contract, taking on only the remainder of Ozuna’s $16 million that is owed this season.”
Ozuna is a former Marlin and two-time Silver Slugger. He is hitting well this year, but his expiring contract makes him a tradable asset. Alcántara is off to a slow start, but there is no denying he is one of the best pitchers in baseball when he’s got his best stuff.
He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2022. However, he struggled in 2023 and missed all of 2024. Perhaps playing for an organization with postseason aspirations could get him back to playing his best baseball. He is under club control through 2027, so it would take more than just Ozuna to land him.
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“But to prevent the trade from becoming merely a partial-season rental of Ozuna, the Marlins would likely insist on dipping into the Braves’ wellspring of pitching prospects,” wrote Vankin. “Atlanta had eight pitchers on MLB Pipeline’s ranking of the organization’s top 10 minor leaguers. The list is topped by the Braves’ No. 2 overall prospect, 18-year-old lefty Cam Caminiti, whose fastball already reaches up to 98 mph.”
Interestingly enough, this would not even be the first time that Ozuna and Alcántara were traded for each other. The Marlins traded Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 for Alcántara, who was their No.9 prospect at the time.
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