Will Marcell Ozuna be the power the Atlanta Braves need

Let’s preview what the Atlanta Braves new power threat Marcell Ozuna can possibly bring to the table in 2020.

After being a free agent for most of the past Winter, the Atlanta Braves finally scooped in and signed Marcell Ozuna to a 1-year contract in late January.

A deal that most in the industry were pleasantly surprised the Atlanta Braves were able to pull off, especially if you believe that no 1-year deal is a bad deal.

Let’s not overlook how good Ozuna has been over the past few seasons, and realize that the Atlanta Braves may have made a steal when they made this deal.

And just when it looked like the deal could not get any better, the universal DH rule comes out and it could very well play into the hands of the Atlanta Braves and Marcell Ozuna.

Do not pay much attention to the gold glove award Ozuna was gifted a few years ago when he was still a member of the Miami Marlins. First off, we all know that award is given to the bigger names unless someone is just a defensive wizard.

And secondly, his defense has regressed over the past couple of seasons.

I would not call Ozuna a terrible defender, but he is below average and his arm strength has seemed to tail off over the past couple of seasons.

Being the team’s DH will certainly be something discussed and looked at by the Atlanta Braves coaching staff.

Going back to the 1-year deal though, hopefully Ozuna will show it on his shortened 1-year deal that he will be productive and will garner lots more interest in his upcoming free agency after this season.

Of course, none of this even begins to talk about how much more crucial he will be for the middle of the Atlanta order if Freddie Freeman has to miss any time in the season. Hopefully Ozuna will provide adequate enough protection for Freddie to do Freddie things.