Major League Baseball’s hot stove season has been rather slow these past couple of weeks, but with the calendar turning to the new year, things should start to pick up once again, as all 30 MLB teams have just seven weeks remaining to get their roster in order before Spring Training.
For the Atlanta Braves, most of their most impactful moves happened early in the offseason (Signing Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Mike Yastrzemski, and Ha-Seong Kim). However, Atlanta is still awaiting the decisions of key free agents like Marcell Ozuna, Tyler Kinley, and Pierce Johnson, who have not found a home for the 2026 season just yet. Ozuna is the Braves’ biggest free agent decision, but Atlanta may have prepared for life after Ozuna already with the Yastrzemski signing.
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Braves Predicted to Cut Ties with Marcell Ozuna
Marcell Ozuna has played six seasons with the Atlanta Braves and has become a fan favorite across Braves country. Still, as his age, reliability, and production all become factors in whether the Braves will re-sign him, Ozuna’s time in Atlanta may be over.
A recent lineup predictions piece heading into 2026 by Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter features a Braves lineup without Marcell Ozuna.
Here is what Reuter came up with for Atlanta’s 1-9:
“RF Ronald Acuña Jr.
1B Matt Olson
3B Austin Riley
C Drake Baldwin
DH Jurickson Profar
2B Ozzie Albies
LF Mike Yastrzemski
CF Michael Harris II
SS Ha-Seong Kim”
You don’t have to scroll very far in the story to see where Ozuna is predicted to land, as Reuter believes it will be the Arizona Diamondbacks who land the 35-year-old DH.
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Marcell Ozuna’s Time With The Braves
Over the past six seasons, Marcell Ozuna has been a tremendous Braves slugger. Despite a “down” 2025 season, Ozuna still clubbed 21 home runs in 145 games and was an above-average hitter with an OPS+ of 113.
However, in 2023 and 2024, Ozuna was one of the premier sluggers in all of MLB. He hit a combined 79 home runs over those two seasons and drove in 204 runs in that span.
All-in-all, Marcell Ozuna has smashed 118 home runs over his six seasons with the Braves, and has several memorable moments hitting clutch, light-tower power home runs for Atlanta.
According to Spotrac, Ozuna’s market value is a two-year deal worth $27 million.
BaseballReference.com also projects Ozuna to bounce back in 2026 with 27 home runs, 77 RBIs, and an OPS well above .800.
As a primary DH, Ozuna’s only role is to just smash baseballs, but the end of 2025 raised some question marks about Ozuna’s playing ability, as he was oddly left out of the Braves lineup on many occasions.
It will be interesting to see if the Braves front office makes any other additional moves for an impact bat if Atlanta can not retain Marcell Ozuna, which at this juncture, it appears they will not.
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