Atlanta Braves: Breaking down the top 3 free agents left to consider

The winter meetings have passed, and the offseason is well underway. However, the Atlanta Braves are hopefully not yet done spending.

Barring the rather unlikely Nolan Arenado trade happening, the Atlanta Braves still have a big hole to fill in the middle of the lineup where Josh Donaldson once was.

The Braves, like all teams, can always improve. I will be finding three players who, in my opinion, would benefit the team.

They will be in no particular order in terms of impact level. I will be focusing on position players for this article, as the pitching market besides Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg were very thin.

One pitcher who I will give an honorable mention would be Alex Wood.

While he had a sub-par season last year, he was hampered by injury for most of it.

He does have a very strong career track record, and is a fan favorite many in Braves country would love to see back on a short-term, prove-it type of deal.

An Old “Friend”

After last season’s NLDS, Alex Anthouoplous should be very familiar with Marcell Ozuna. In the series, he hit a scalding .429 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI, and a 1.335 OPS.

The Braves will need an anchor for the middle of the order, and Ozuna would be a solid choice.

Ozuna had a good year in the heart of the Cardinals order, hitting .241 with a .800 OPS with 29 home runs.

The average number is a bit concerning because it is 31 points off of his career .272 average. However, his OPS is 16 points higher than his career average of .784.

If he can get back to his career average number while keeping his OPS in the .800-.900 range he would be a great pickup for the middle of the order.

I think he would be able to do that in a Braves lineup that is superior in talent to the cardinals lineup he was in last year (in my opinion).

My main issue with Ozuna lies in his fielding (a problem shared by the last name on this list). As highlighted by his often made fun of attempted wall catch last year, his fielding is less than stellar.

However, considering the Braves’ other two outfielders are great fielders, they may be able to cover up some of his deficiencies.

If Ozuna was signed, he would fit neatly into the 4 hole, and he would likely replace most if not all of the production that Donaldson gave last year. Speaking of Donaldson…….