There are a nonzero number of Atlanta Braves fans who are completely perplexed that the team has not brought back Marcell Ozuna yet. In their minds, Ozuna is this fearsome power hitter that is a constant threat to make a run at NL MVP and they remember all of the good things he brought to the Braves over the years. However, there are some pretty obvious reasons why Atlanta has steered clear thus far.
Aside from his on-the-field issues that proved costly at the trade deadline, the Braves honestly could use a flexible DH spot in order to give guys a break from the field while keeping their bats in the lineup. Having a full-time DH is fine and dandy when they are consistently good, but Ozuna hasn't been for a year now and the now Braves want to find ways to rest players like Sean Murphy, Drake Baldwin, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Jurickson Profar defensively.
However, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel was even more damning in his assessment of the free agent market and Ozuna specifically. Not only did he identify Ozuna as a free agent to avoid in general, but he also had no shortage of reasons why.
ESPN's Kiley McDaniel had a damning assessment of former Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna
Now, is there a chance that Ozuna goes off in 2026? Yes, there is...and McDaniel acknowledges that he could be better next season now that his hip is supposedly healthy. Again, this isn't a situation where Ozuna doesn't have upside, but it is an acknowledgement of which direction he has been trending and the actual likelihood that he turns things around.
In McDaniel's mind, Ozuna has to really hit to be of real value since he has zero to negative value when it comes to baserunning and defense. Given that Ozuna was dealing with the hip issue and is 35 years old, seeing him decline like he did in the second half with an 86 wRC+ and his overall 2025 xwOBA of .351 were massive red flags. In McDaniel's opinion, there is a real chance that we see Ozuna's decline "accelerating in a fully healthy season".
Thankfully, there has been little noise around a potential Ozuna reunion other than Alex Anthopoulos refusing to rule it out. However, Anthopoulos also just said after arriving at the Winter Meetings that the team prefers to keep the DH spot open and give multiple players turns there.
Given the arguments that McDaniel lays out regarding Ozuna going forward, that is probably for the best.