The future of Atlanta's designated hitter position after 2024
One of the themes for the Atlanta Braves under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has been long-term contractual control. After this winter's trade with the Seattle Mariners for outfielder Jarred Kelenic, Atlanta has three or more years of team control at every single defensive position on the roster. It's a situation that's quite unprecedented in Major League Baseball.
But that doesn't mean every position has that same sort of long-term certainty.
Designated hitter, manned the last few seasons by Marcell Ozuna, is one where some change is potentially coming over the horizon.
Ozuna, who originally signed a one-year contract for 2020 and then followed that with a three-year pact the next offseason, is entering the final year of that deal, making $16M in 2024.
His performance, despite the slow start last season, was worth the salary in 2023: a .274 average, with 40 homers and 100 RBIs.
But Ozuna's entering his age 33 season and, prior to 2023, put up two seasons with batting averages between .213 & .226, as well as missing time due to broken fingers and being arrested...twice.
He's expected to reprise his role as DH for 2024, but what happens after that? Let's look at the options:
Marcell Ozuna does have a 2025 club option
Could the Braves take the "DH by committee" approach?
Could Atlanta replace the DH from within?
There's always free agency options
What's most likely?
There's lots of paths Atlanta could take to filling the DH role in 2025, but the good news is that they have time to figure that out. Perhaps Vaughn Grissom continues to physically develops and finds that "man strength", as manager Brian Snitker likes to say. Maybe Marcell Ozuna continues to show that he's capable of producing at a high level and the money makes sense for Atlanta to bring him back.
Either way, it feels like this is something that Atlanta will be able to easily take care of when the time comes.
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