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Atlanta Braves: What to do with a suddenly crowded outfield

By Matthew Browning

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 14: Marcell Ozuna #23 of the St. Louis Cardinals attempts to make the catch on an RBI double by Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals in the third inning of game three of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 14: Marcell Ozuna #23 of the St. Louis Cardinals attempts to make the catch on an RBI double by Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals in the third inning of game three of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves Ender Inciarte
Ender Inciarte #11 of the Atlanta Braves. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

With the Atlanta Braves signing Marcell Ozuna Tuesday evening, there are now five outfielders on the roster, with two top prospects on the horizon. What should the team do with the surplus?

After failing to resign Josh Donaldson, the Atlanta Braves switched their focus to the outfield in order to fill the cleanup spot in the batting order.

Marcell Ozuna agreed to a 1-year, $18 million deal with the Braves creating a logjam in the outfield and plenty of questions that need to be answered before Opening Day.

Also, the Braves payroll currently stands at $150 million or just slightly above (according to Sportrac), so if they wanted to make any more additions, it would be wise to assume they would have to move one of the current outfielders not named Ronald Acuna Jr.

By moving one of them, that could either be a trade of, most likely, Ender Inciarte or not tendering a contract to Adam Duvall. Nick Markakis seems to be safe regardless of whatever the Braves choose to do.

Of course, depth has always been valued by Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, so maybe he just decides to keep all three and have the deepest team in the National League and perhaps the deepest team in the entire NL.

There are so many options with the outfield after the Ozuna signing and there are also ramifications down the road with this signing, with two of the Braves top prospects being outfielders.

Let’s take a look at those options more in-depth, with a final prediction as to how the outfield will shake out come March 26 in Arizona.

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