On February 5th, 2021 the Atlanta Braves announced they re-signed their star OF/DH "Ozuna from the Braves" to a 4 year deal worth $64 million with a 5th year club option worth $16 million. Less than two years later, Marcell Ozuna has been one of the worst players in baseball. This article is going to take a look into the whole career and what happened to the once feared slugger Marcell Ozuna, on and off the field.

Early Career

On April 30th, 2013 the Miami Marlins called up their number 7 prospect, outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna was never a super highly touted prospect in the Marlins organization, but his potential was certainly recognized as he earned his call to the majors in 2013. Ozuna notched his first hit in his first game, but struggled at the plate as he adjusted to the majors. Ozuna posted a 92 wRC+ and 1.6 WAR in his first dose of the majors, mostly due to his defense. In his first full season in the big leagues he posted a much better 116 wRC+ with good defense, earning himself a nice 4.5 win season. After two more inconsistent years in 2015 and 2016, Ozuna took a massive leap forward on offense and defense in 2017. He posted a stellar 143 wRC+ as he finally showed off his true power potential. His defense was also great as well, posting 2 outs above average. Ozuna earned himself his second straight all star game, as well as 5.8 WAR, a gold glove, and a silver slugger award. Nobody knew it at the time, but the Marlins were about to enter a firesale of massive proportions, and Marcell Ozuna was one of the names headed out of Miami.

St. Louis

On December 13th, 2017, the Marlins pulled the trigger and dealt their star outfielder Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Sandy Alcantara, Zac Gallen, and Daniel Castano as well as outfielder Magneuris Sierra. The Cardinals had the offensive weapon they needed to try and make a deep postseason run. Ozuna’s two years in St. Louis were relatively uneventful, posting a decent 107 wRC+ in 2018 and 110 in 2019. Ozuna shined in the 2019 NLDS against his future team, the Atlanta Braves, posting a .478 OBP and a 1.335 OPS en route to helping push the Cardinals to the NLCS. He went quiet in the NLCS, sending the Cardinals to the offseason and Ozuna to free agency.

2020

Ozuna was in contact with many teams throughout the offseason after he rejected the qualifying offer from the Cardinals. Eventually on January 22nd, 2020 he made his decision, signing an $18 million deal with the Atlanta Braves, giving them their middle of the order bat they desperately needed with the departure of Josh Donaldson. Ozuna was off to a really shaky start in spring training, but on March 5th, Major League Baseball announced they were canceling spring training games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 5th, we saw a glimpse at Ozuna’s potential home issues as his wife threw a soap dish at his face, cutting it. She was arrested for domestic battery charges, however eventually the situation was resolved and everything carried on normally. Once the season started on July 23rd, Marcell Ozuna started showing just how powerful he could be. Over the course of the 2020 shortened season, Ozuna posted a 178 wRC+, 2.5 WAR, and he would’ve had a triple crown were it not for his teammate Freddie Freeman. He continued his fine work into the 2020 playoffs, but hit free agency at the end of the year following the Braves heartbreaking loss to the Dodgers in 7 games in the NLCS.

After the deal

On February 5th, 2021, after many rumors about the future of Marcell Ozuna, the Braves re-signed him to his big $64 million deal. The Braves now had their star slugger for the next 4-5 years, providing security to the middle of the powerful Braves lineup. Ozuna started the year slow in 2021, but it was expected that he would return to his normal self eventually. He was chasing more pitches, whiffing at pitches in the zone, getting under the ball more, and barreling the ball less. He was still hitting the ball hard but nothing else was going right for him, especially with his poor defense in the outfield.

He began to heat up as May rolled along, and in the middle of a game against the Red Sox he tried to advance to 3rd base on a ball hit to 2nd by Ozzie Albies. He collided with the foot of Rafael Devers, breaking and dislocating his fingers and putting him on the IL for a minimum of 6 weeks. 4 days later, he was arrested for domestic violence, ending his season with a 73 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR on the field. Ozuna’s future as an Atlanta Brave and as a Major League Baseball player were now in question not even a year after he signed his deal. Ozuna fought the case for the rest of the year, eventually reaching an agreement with the prosecutors to enter an anger diversion course for 6 months. He was retroactively suspended by Major League Baseball for 20 games, allowing him to immediately come back to the Braves in 2022. He continued to condition himself in the offseason and it was apparent to begin the season as he posted a 164 wRC+ at the start of the year. Once the Braves departed San Diego on April 17th, he began his downfall, as since that date, he has posted a 68 wRC+. His batted ball data looks good, but he’s chasing the most he ever has in his career, walking the least, and either getting on top of it or under it every time he hits the ball.

Reinforcements

With Ozuna’s struggles and the emergence of William Contreras, the return of Eddie Rosario, and the fixing of Robbie Grossman’s lefty swing, Marcell Ozuna officially lost his starting job on August 15th. Ozuna was arrested for driving under the influence on August 19th, only 4 days later. In the span of a year Marcell Ozuna forgot how to hit, was arrested twice, and lost his starting job. Ozuna appeared again on August 21st, striking out twice to the tune of relentless boo’s at Truist Park before being pulled in the middle of the game.

Conclusion

This was a long winded way of saying Marcell Ozuna forgot how to play baseball and is a bad human being, but it's something I think needed a full story. The story of Marcell Ozuna is a cautionary tale, showing that anyone can ruin their reputation and life in an instant. Ozuna’s likely eventual release will end one of baseball's most troubling recent sagas. The Braves will have to pay the remainder of his contract. After his stellar 2020, he posted a 75 wRC+ and -1.4 fWAR from 2021-2022. A few friendly reminders: Respect your significant other and remember to always get an Uber or call a friend if you’ve drank.