Just end the season. I am so over my beloved Atlanta Braves being such a colossal disappointment. While there are still signs of something positive in and around this club, it needs a makeover. The entire coaching staff needs to find something else to do with its time. While Marcell Ozuna has been a great player for this team for a long time, I understand he is in his mid-30s and playing on an expiring.
That is why for as long as the Braves continue to circle the drain, Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos may not be left with any choice in the matter. Ozuna is exactly the type of player he lets walk in free agency. He is well over 30 and is slated for a bump in pay. Ozuna could take a hometown discount, but it would serve the Braves to see if they can get a prospect or two in this down season.
The team that I think could be in play to trade for Ozuna would have to be the San Diego Padres.
Even though San Diego eliminated the Braves from the postseason last year during their NL Wild Card Series, Padres general manager A.J. Preller has a bit of a reputation for giving up way too soon on notable prospects for a player who can help him win now. No, the Braves cannot land either Leo De Vries or Ethan Salas in this deal, but Cobb Hightower and one of three pitchers would make sense.
Between Kash Mayfield, Humberto Cruz or Boston Bateman, the Braves can get a pitcher they want.
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Why the Atlanta Braves may trade Marcell Ozuna to the San Diego Padres
Although the Padres have been a perpetual thorn in the Braves' side over the last three years when they have played them, it is not as punitive to trade a high-end player like Marcell Ozuna who is playing out an expiring contract to a team located on the other side of the country in the Senior Circuit. This would not be like trading Ozuna to a team in division like New York or to Philadelphia.
It may be a little bit before my time, but one of the greatest trades in Braves history came around the trade deadline. Atlanta dealt veteran pitcher Doyle Alexander to the Detroit Tigers in 1987. The Braves ended up landing native Michigander John Smoltz in that late-summer deal, and the rest is history. The late 80s Braves were all sorts of awful, but they eventually became The Team of the 90s.
Ultimately, I think a team like the Padres that is very much in win-now mode could be the right team to exploit if you are the Braves. Preller and Anthopoulos have reputations to uphold. Although the Friars play in the same division as the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, keep in mind nobody has repeated in baseball since the 1998-00 New York Yankees rattled off three in a row.
The Padres could use a player like Ozuna to help round out their lineup, while the Braves need a reset.