Braves Insider Reports Marcell Ozuna Blocked Trade Attempts

Marcell Ozuna has started to look more like himself in the games following the MLB Trade Deadline. In eight post-deadline games, he is batting .333 with a 1.226 OPS, three home runs and six RBIs. 

Some Atlanta Braves fans are likely watching this return to form and wondering where this was last month. Perhaps the team could have gotten something for him when they could have. In a recent development, they might have still tried. 

Braves insider Ryan Cothran replied to a tweet regarding Ozuna’s trade value that the Braves tried to trade him to three teams, and he vetoed all of them. 

This update comes as a headscratcher on the surface. General manager Alex Anthopoulos said they didn’t approach the designated hitter for a trade. That could still be true, all while a trade was vetoed. 

The Athletic’s David O’Brien reported that Ozuna was leaving the deadline out of his hands. 

“That’s my agent and Alex (Anthopoulos), that’s what they’re working on. I don’t know,” he said to The Athletic. 

As part of that report, there was an implication that some trade talks could already be underway. Those three deals could have been what was implied to The Athletic. 

It’s possible that while Anthopoulos was discussing trades, he couldn’t agree on a deal that Ozuna’s agent could also sign off on. Just because Ozuna is leaving the deadline out of his hands doesn’t mean the 10-5 rights go out the window. He could have simply handed over those rights to his agent for the discussions. 

Since those rights exist, he has every right to have them exercised, regardless of what it means for the team and what fans think of that decision.

Under this scenario, it can still be true that there wasn’t a large market for him. These three teams could have been all that inquired about a trade. These three teams made offers that were good enough for the Braves to consider, and they got vetoed. 

What we don’t know is the reasoning for vetoing these potential trades. Unlike the trade rumor that has dots to connect, anything regarding why a trade would be vetoed is purely speculation, and that will be avoided here. 

In the end, the only player who was traded was Rafael Montero, and others were added. Likely players to be traded stayed, and that could very well reflect Anthopoulos’ notion that they weren’t going to trade for the sake of a salary dump. 

Ozuna might have gotten the right offers; all but one other player might not have.

What’s done is done. The deadline has passed. All we can do now is see how much Ozuna can build back his value over the next two months before free agency. 

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