It always felt unlikely that the Braves would re-sign Marcell Ozuna this offseason, and Alex Anthopoulos all but confirmed that with his recent comments at the MLB Winter Meetings.
“From a roster construction standpoint, where we sit today, we would prefer to leave it open and not have someone play 162 games as the DH,” Anthopoulos said, via Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
Ozuna’s defensive days are long gone, making a reunion with Atlanta highly unlikely. It may not seem like a massive loss based on his performance this year — 21 homers and a .756 OPS — but his regression was a major reason the Braves’ offense took a step back this year. Realistically, they need to replace the version of Ozuna from a couple of seasons ago, when he hit .302 with 39 homers and 104 RBIs, even if that’s tough to replicate with a single acquisition.
Anthopoulos’ comments also suggest the Braves don’t have much interest in All-Star free agent Kyle Schwarber, the top DH on the market.
There are a couple of clear reasons behind Atlanta’s thinking. Leaving the DH spot open gives Ronald Acuña Jr. the chance to take some pressure off his body with semi-regular DH days, something that absolutely needs to be factored in given his injury history. It also creates more playing time for Drake Baldwin, who — outside of Acuña and Matt Olson — was the Braves’ most consistent offensive presence. He needs to be in the lineup damn near every day, and signing a full-time DH would only make that more difficult.