The writing has been on the wall for a few weeks now when it comes to Marcell Ozuna and his future with the Atlanta Braves. Ozuna has already fallen out of favor at DH as the offense has functioned better this season with both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy playing every day and trade rumors around the pending free agent have swirled. While we don't have resolution to those rumors yet, one team is starting to emerge as an early favorite for Ozuna with a deal potentially close.
It is important to remain vigilant this time of year because a lot of rumors that go around are total garbage from either unethical "journalists" or horrid sources. However, the trade buzz that popped up on Tuesday night from insider Hector Gomez involving a specific trade with the Padres is extremely interesting if it is close to true.
Buzz growing around potential Braves-Padres trade with Marcell Ozuna as the centerpiece
At this point, it would be an upset if Ozuna wasn't traded by the deadline as he can't even get playing time right now. Between the hip injury that plagued him earlier this season and his timing issues now, Ozuna is more valuable to Atlanta as a trade chip especially given that re-signing after the season seems incredibly unlikely.
As for the trade package that Gomez seems to think is in the works right now, this is kind of what fans should expect from an Ozuna trade even if the details may not end up being completely correct. The Braves would get two decent, if unexciting, pitching prospects that are close to big league ready and the Padres would get a few months of a DH capable of going on MVP-level runs.
We'll know rather soon if this trade scenario is real or just another nugget that will be forgotten after a couple of days. It would be very typical of Alex Anthopoulos as well as Padres GM AJ Preller to strike on the trade market early before things get crazy in a week, so fans should keep a watchful eye in the coming hours and days.