The Braves are planning to exercise their 2025 club options on designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, left-hander Aaron Bummer and catcher Travis d’Arnaud, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos implied as much at today’s end-of-season press conference, saying each has “put himself in a good spot.” All three had strong seasons — Ozuna in particular — so none of the decisions should register as a major surprise. Ozuna’s option calls for a $16MM salary next season, while Bummer will be paid $7.25MM and d’Arnaud $8MM.
Ozuna, 34 next month, slugged 39 home runs this season — the second-highest mark of his career — and turned in a robust .302/.378/.546 slash on the season. That production clocked in at a weighty 54% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+ (154). That’s the second-best mark of Ozuna’s career and his best mark in a full, 162-game campaign; his career-high 178 mark came during the shortened 2020 season. Dating back to 2023, Ozuna has clobbered 79 home runs for the Braves and played in all but 18 of their games.
Atlanta’s deadline acquisition of Jorge Soler makes the 2025 roster a bit clunky with Ozuna also in the fold. Both are nominal corner outfielders who are best deployed primarily as a designated hitter. The Braves plugged Soler into their injury-plagued outfield mix after acquiring him this summer, in hopes of bolstering a lineup that was missing Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II at the time.
Soler did just that, hitting .243/.356/.493 and clubbing nine homers in 193 plate appearances in his return to Atlanta, but he also posted brutal defensive marks in a third of a season of left field work (-10 Defensive Runs Saved, -6 Outs Above Average). With Soler signed through 2026, Atlanta could try to live with his defense for a year and then turn Ozuna’s DH slot over to Soler in 2026, but there will surely be at least some degree of trade chatter surrounding Soler this winter as well.
As for the other two option calls, both seemed obvious. Bummer was acquired from the White Sox last offseason and had a nice first year in his new environs, rebounding from a down year to provide 55 1/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball with even better underlying metrics. The 6’3″ southpaw punched out 28.3% of his opponents and issued walks at only a 7.4% clip — the second-lowest mark of his career. His 59.7% ground-ball rate, while lower than his mammoth 64.9% career mark, was still about 17 percentage points higher than the league average. Add in the fact that his option came with a $1.25MM buyout (effectively making it a net $6MM call) and that his contract also contains a $7.5MM club option for 2026, and there was never much doubt he’d be back in ’25.
Turning to the 35-year-old d’Arnaud (36 in February), he’ll be back for a sixth season at Truist Park after slashing .238/.302/.436 with 15 homers in 341 plate appearances. That’s only a bit better than league-average on a rate basis (103 wRC+), but it’s strong production relative to catchers throughout the league, who tend to be about 10% worse than average at the plate. It’s particularly stout production for a team’s No. 2 catcher, which is the role d’Arnaud will occupy with Sean Murphy still in the early stages of a six-year contract.
Injuries to Murphy expanded d’Arnaud’s workload this year, and he handled the increased usage reasonably well on both sides of the plate. His 19.1% caught-stealing rate was below par, but not by much, and his framing work was roughly average. Statcast credited him as slightly better than average when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt. As d’Arnaud enters his age-36 season, it’s always possible that his defensive skills could drop off sharply, but assuming better health from Murphy, d’Arnaud will probably also be asked to shoulder a smaller workload than 2024’s 706 innings.
The Braves hold a fourth club option as well — a $7MM option on right-hander Luke Jackson. Atlanta reacquired the longtime Brave alongside Soler in that deadline swap with the Giants. He pitched 18 innings with a 4.50 ERA and huge 31% strikeout rate … but also a 13.1% walk rate. Coupled with his time in San Francisco, he finished the season with a 5.09 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate in 53 innings.
Jackson’s option comes with a $2MM buyout, but even at a net $5MM price the Braves seem likely to move on. Atlanta has a deep (and expensive) bullpen featuring Raisel Iglesias, Joe Jimenez, Pierce Johnson and the aforementioned Bummer. That quartet alone will combine for $39.75MM in 2025 salary. The Braves will also see lefty Dylan Lee reach arbitration for the first time.
Ozuna from the Braves!
Always trust in the Braves FO to make the right moves
*cough* Cole Hamels *cough*
I’m ok with a $6M mistake. Look at what he’s avoided: Swanson & Donaldson…offered Freeman (whose agent countered, with deal being pulled) which should look better over time than Swanson/Donaldson’s deals. Now, Ozuna’s deal doesn’t look nearly as bad as originally thought with a solid 2024.
@RunDMC: I’m not even sure I’d call it a mistake. It was a gamble and the risks were known. Just didn’t work out and the Braves only lost an amount of money that they were comfortable losing.
That may have been true for a while, but the ‘AA is playing 3D chess’ ship has sailed. He’s human like the rest of MLB executives.
He had a really nice run, but he’s had his fair share of clunkers over the past couple of years.
“He’s had..Fair share of clunkers”…Didn’t they win the NL East 7 str8 times?…And didn’t they make the playoffs eight str8 times?…
What “clunkers” are you referring to?..No team was going too far with the amazing amount of injuries the Braves had this year.
I’m kinda busy at the moment, but feel free to search for yourself. The interwebs are easy to explore.
I am sure Bummer doesn’t think it is one.
I’m sure he’s not at all Bummed out of not being anywhere near the White Sox!
Id trade Soler and Kelenic this offseason and get a better outfield replacement that can play defense along side Harris and Acuna.
Why would they trade Kelenic at this point? He has limited value. Best to at least keep him as a decent 4th outfielder with control and support me possible upside. I am not entirely against trading Ozuna and keeping Soler. I like Soler in ATL a good bit. Just not in OF.
Idk why it said support me. Phone autocorrect I guess. I meant “with”.
“Why would they trade”…Agreed. He totally has limited value and so therefore has more value to the Braves than other teams.
Kelenic is too young to give up on yet. Soler and Jackson both should play elsewhere
At what age should they give up on him?
Ozuna back to STL?
“Ozuna back to STL”..It makes sense because St. Louis prefers to trade players when they have almost no remaining value, so they can acquire players at their highest peak value. This fits right in with their usual philosophy.
Except if you heard their exit interviews in the season they said they’re done with the big FA signings and want to grow their in house talent. They wanna cut payroll. I highly doubt ozuna is headed there. (If they were speaking truth)
Still can’t believe Ozuna is allowed to play in the MLB, after all the things he did.
Manfred sees domestic violence allegations and sexual assault allegations differently apparently. Ozuna kept his mouth shut and was allowed to play. Bauer was very vocal and got blacklisted.
I thought Ozuna deserved a one year suspension. That said, I would rank him fourth in MVP voting after Ohtani, De La Cruz and Lindor.
For what?
What did he actually do…I’ll wait.
Domestic abuse, driving under the influence,jail time. I guess all good for MLB.
Show the charge sheet, and furthermore, have you viewed the body cam video.
People have arguments all the time. some get more heated than others. It’s really odd how all the people on this site make moral judgements on others without knowing the full facts and want to ban players forever based on what is ‘reported’.
Genesis Ozuna was arrested on a domestic violence charge in Miami a year ago after cutting Marcell Ozuna’s face by throwing a soap dish at him.
Why wait? Be proactive, and peruse the interwebs!
He got a DUI. He was falsely accused of DV, the police claimed to have it in body cam except they didn’t. Grow up.
@Sid Bream Speed Demon
Maybe it’s time for you to grow up and stop defending DV and DUI. Guy was even in jail. He shouldn’t even be in the MLB anymore.
wsbtv.com/news/local/north-fulton-county/body-came…
Old York
You’re one of the smaller tools on this site, not anything useful though, just a hugely over inflated ego.
You’d have to wonder where someone would be taken by police when they’re accused of something – “He was in jail”. Blow more smoke.
Really interesting on Bummer, but his BABIP against over the last 3 years is .384, .340 and .388. Along with that, he gives up a TON of ground balls and is never barreled. This year he was 100th percentile in barrel %, 90th in hard hit and 98th in gb. He dramatically improved his W% this year. You have to assume at some point balls will be hit at fielders and he’ll have a 1.50 ERA.
He’s a bargain.
2.29 FIP and 11.2 K/9 with only 2.9 BB/9 is worth the cash.
Yeah – somehow Ozuna has been allowed to remain.
With all the injuries they’ve had, the Braves wouldn’t have even made the playoffs without him.
Get Georgia native Lawrence butler from A’s, the braves always rip them off lol
The Braves can get Butler. Another team that rips off the A’s in my Blue Jays can get Rooker!
It’ll be a real jam if RAJ can hit but can’t play the OF at the start of the season. I doubt Soler is with them past the deadline.
I never had a knee injury but seems hitting and running the bases would be harder than playing outfield.
Kelenic is a Clint Frazier level bust
Hall of Famer Clint Frazier?
Filled in admirably in CF. The metrics liked him there. At the time they had no other option so he helped the team a lot regardless of end of season numbers. Oddly metrics were down in left.
Cecil Upshaw should be brought back.
Some of the solid middle and especially setup relievers have to love that Bummer is going to get over 7m again. Someone, with little track record of success. Martin, robertson as bonafide late inning guys should have no trouble pulling down 10m, even if they both are pushing 40 as long as they have both been solid/consistent.
@johnsilver
True, but the fact remains that RP are so volatile each year. Just look at what happened to the Houston pen in the playoffs. And they’re paying one guy the same dollars as the whole Tigers team.
They could very well trade Bummer. Someone will want him for at least a good chunk of that if the Braves want to trade for someone they like. Many of Bummers metrics were outstanding.
Minter is a FA. I can’t see them trading Bummer. They have plenty of payroll space to keep him.
No success?
2019: 2.13 ERA (216 ERA+; 3.41 FiP) in 67.2 IP
2021: 3.51 ERA (125 ERA+; 2.96 FiP) in 56.1 IP
2022: 2.36 ERA (170 ERA+; 3.19 FiP) in 26.2 IP
Sure, he had a bad year in ’23, but ATL liked his analytics I’d imagine. Some of his stats are skewed by some really bad CHW fielding teams, while he’s maintained a career FiP of 3.18. 7M AAV is quite a bit, but that’s near market rate for someone like him, especially if they envision him taking over for FA Minter as a lefty specialist, which could happen with Hayden Harris promoted for addt southpaw support next season.
Honestly CWS is just a terrible place to be. It isn’t just the last year. Am I surprised he had an off year on that team? No.
I didn’t want to beat a dead horse…lol.
I didn’t realize what a brutal season Sean Murphy had….that contract extension has to be jangling the nerves a bit.
Possibly, but G1 injury really threw him off-course for the season combined with ATL doin’ him dirty on the wrong end of a platoon with d’Arnaud.
IMHO, they envision steady AB for d’Arnaud in the DH role, but Ozuna’s steady offensive production (and his inability to play the field) meant more time behind the plate for d’Arnaud and less playing time for Murphy who played a lot more in OAK. Hoping a return to form with a healthier 2025 from Murph, but also more time behind the plate which could result in his offensive production getting back to career numbers.
DMC
Ozuna was nearly cut in early 2023, taking DH at bats from both D’Arnaud and Murphy.
Seems to me Murphy is no longer the starter, but rather it is a ST competition. The better catcher is assigned to three starters and the other to two starters.
The Braves were never close to cutting him, about a million articles have been written to back that up.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Who was he getting “cut” by, twitter commenters, or some clueless ‘Braves fans’ that wanted to ‘DFA Ozuna’.
Well in fairness there really was absolutely no indication he would be productive again (this soon especially). He was about the worst player in the MLB. He was clearly overthinking and anxious and the booing surely was wearing on him. Even this year at times away teams fans got onto him and it got to him. Particularly a couple games in SF where they let him have it. Seems Snitker was the only one who believed in him. You know…that guy everyone keeps calling a dummy.lol. I honestly think if it weren’t for the work ethic he was showing he eventually was gonna get DFAd in 2023 if he didn’t turn it around. Hindsight is 20/20.
@Rishi
There are plenty of players who go through torrid stretches in their career. The ‘DFA’ noise was mainly from the Twitterati and people commenting on boards like this who have no idea about hitting unfortunately.
What was the sample size at the time of the noise about Ozuna, about 50-70 ab’s or something like that.
Mookie Betts is 0 for his last 22 in post season, do you see him being benched? And what about Harper and Bohm, they have both had torrid stretches. The noise around Ozuna had nothing to do with his baseball activities, it was from all the moral arbiters who ‘think’ that they have never done a single thing wrong in their lives.
The sample size was basically the 2 years before that too. Sure, that was the worst stretch but if you couple the hitting, baserunning, & bad defense (when playing and not being a black hole stuck at DH) he was a terrible player a good bit before 2023. Many players go through horrible stretches but not many go through them while also facing criminal charges two different times and being (at the time) universally disliked (to put it kindly) by not just Braves fans but on the road as well. To his credit most players probably wouldn’t come out of the other side of that (at least not in the same uniform). It’s hard enough to get it together when everyone isn’t yelling “wife beater”. I can only imagine if he were in Philly or NY. I’m not on the moral bandwagon personally. I make mistakes all the time.
I would also point out there was a huge segment of Braves fans calling for his release heading into 2023…before that terrible stretch. And to be fair too I think the idea that this was the fans being absurd is wrong because I think many teams would’ve cut him and the Braves fans are much less hostile than most fans. Even to point out the obvious, the Braves would’ve easily cut him if he were making less.
Sorry for posting so much but I should also point out the Braves offense was incredible. Were he struggling like that for a weak lineup he would’ve been unplayable
@Rishi
It was totally wrong. Go and read some of the twitterati comments. His outfield work may have been below what some Braves expect, but then again is Soto a gold glove calibre outfielder, no he isn’t. Some people want an Andruw Jones in every outfield position, it’s totally unrealistic.
Many teams wouldn’t have cut him due to uneducated fan noise. Do you know he’s a leader in the clubhouse, furthermore, when M Harris was in a funk, guess who helped him out. You really should be a Mets Phillies or Yankees fan where they boo their own, it’s pathetic. I believe you called for his DFA at the time, so that explains a lot in regards to your comments in relation to Mr Ozuna.
All of what you are saying, the Harris thing and him taking on a leadership role are fairly recent developments. Man you don’t understand my comments at all. I am not for booing anyone. I supported the guy. If you want to delude yourself into thinking the front office was not likely at least considering releasing him then go on. If they were they wouldn’t leak it to the media. They are notorious for having zipped lips. Again he would’ve been released if not for the contract so the leadership was likely not a huge consideration. It was purely financial. I just don’t get how you act like what I’m saying is so absurd. Look at the stats after 2020. He was atrocious. He is one of the slowest players. He’s not gonna be good defensively but even if he can play it they won’t try it for whatever reason so who cares?
Not only would I never have booed the guy but I view him as a sort of low key hero almost for doing what he’s done. My only point is it wasn’t exactly predictable. I mean tell any baseball FO guy or analyst, etc that he was gonna go on to hit 40hr in 2023 and be an MVP candidate in 2024 and they would’ve thought it was nearly impossible
I appreciate your passion but you are just wrong. Snitker didn’t want to DFA him, that’s correct, but AA didn’t either. Ozuna stayed upbeat, was a terrific teammate, and he even would encourage the others. He was never in danger of being DFA’d. That was only the toxic Braves fans on social media that also wanted to get rid of him when the false allegations against him were made. The front office didn’t leak anything, because there was nothing to leak. His peripherals were still bordering on elite even has he was doing awful. He can’t play defense. He can’t run. But he hits and is a key cog in the clubhouse, and in case you haven’t noticed with their support of Snit, the Braves value vibes above almost anything else. It’s why they didn’t go after Pham or Winker at the trade deadline too.
But please, instead of posting 7 more times, disabuse yourself of the silly notion that he was in any danger of a DFA. They didn’t even bench him, and that would have likely come first. Just take the L.
I should rephrase that instead of saying Ozuna was nearly cut, which I had read on a couple of sports sites.
Instead, I would say:
He was arguably one of the worst everyday players in 2022 and after 18 games on 2023, Ozuna was hitting 0.085. So, even if he was not going to be cut, having two catchers who could hit well could reasonably be expected to have taken at-bats from Ozona had he not improved.
Mute me then. 1.its nice to know you find my posts excessive and (likely) annoying because I feel the same way about you. I actually disagree nearly everything you post (and find you to be a bit of a d-bag).Whether they were thinking about it or not who cares? What I am trying to get at is this wasn’t some absurd Braves fan thing. The off field problems alone would have led to some teams cutting him. You post your posts (and the other guy) 2 years ago and most people on here would’ve disagreed with you. Obviously it looks good now what you are saying. But the idea that it’s an absurd opinion is absurd. Elite peripherals is a stretch but I know you are right…the metrics pegged him as a decent hitter with lots of slug. The excessive posts were me being sick and sedated. I said sorry for all the posts. Why do you tend to always disagree with an attitude? Just post your post and mind your business
Son, the only off field problem that actually happened is the DUI. No one is DFA’ing anyone over a DUI. The DV stuff was proven untrue when the police had to release their body cam footage and it showed him pushing his wife off of him. I said it when it happened, and cucks and virtue signaling betas attacked me then too.
Elite exit velocity and barrels.
Mind my business? First day online son? And maybe you should take your own advice.
It’s a fact that he was almost cut. Even the broadcasters were saying how Ozuna was almost released before he turned his season around when the Braves were in Miami, and how they even tried to trade him to WSH in a swap for Patrick Corbin. batterypower.com/2022/10/27/23427204/atlanta-brave…
I just said that because you said something rude to me the other day too. First day online son? Yeah that’s my point. Online screens people from any consequence to their speech so they say what they want. And why do you all keep calling me son? I’m not a young guy. I couldn’t agree more about the domestic issue. It is usually no more than a form of blackmail. I never wanted him released because of performance or the off field stuff. He was becoming a distraction was all I ever meant back then. Now that may have been on obnoxious Braves fans but I don’t know any other fan base who would’ve been any different. How about Ill try to stop posting essays and we can be less rude to each other as well. I mean even if I did go off posting essays (I explained why) I’m sure you have gone off before as well.
My problem with what they are saying is they claim to know for a fact there was no talk of cutting him. But they wouldn’t know. Even if there wasn’t they have no insider knowledge to know that. And they are using the outcome to go back in time and paint the idea as absurd when it was spoken about by many of the writers they follow on here even as a high possibility. Only reason it irritates me to posting so much is the way they keep painting me and other fans as absurd for this. They have the benefit now of knowing the outcome.
There was no talk of cutting him. It was all toxic morons online and clueless beat writers like Bowman speculating based on his awful performance. It was an absurd idea at the time, it’s an absurd idea now.
A link to AA definitively saying there was never a discussion about it. Can you provide a link that shows otherwise?
sportstalkatl.com/alex-anthopoulos-say-braves-neve….
Congrats on being my first mute.
Youtube.com/@PINGTR1P
Ask Brian Snitker or AA, don’t post opinion pieces.
@Rishi
mlbtraderumors.com/2022/08/braves-marcell-ozuna-ar…
Have a read of the comments if you’re genuinely interested in who wanted him cut from the Braves, and that will tell you everything you need to know about who follows the crowd, most of them are hiding in their basements after what Ozuna has done for the club. Furthermore, where do you believe the Braves would’ve finished this season without his bat, not to mention the game against KC where he stole 3rd and then scored. Sure, he would have been nailed by a good throw from Salvy, but he was trying to exert pressure and he knew what was on the line and that the Braves just had to win.
Sorry to jump in here, but sure, I’m sure Braves FO thought about releasing the guy, but never more than a 5-minute thought. They’d know the ramifications it’d have in the clubhouse, releasing a guy early in his deal, and presumably wouldn’t have given him much of a chance to make amends (serve his time, prove his worth, etc.). I don’t think it was “purely financial” — not releasing him. It was probably the main reason most of the time, but the team is very proud, and finances alone, they don’t want the L on him, and see him go on to turn it around for a rival. Imagine him having his 2024 season on the Phils or Mets, while ATL pays most of his deal. You also can’t underestimate his impact on younger guys like Albies, Acuna, etc. that can benefit from having a Hispanic veteran proven player — it’s not race so much as cultural differences.
Is there a stat that shows how many foul balls a pitcher has in each start or total foul balls? I’d love to see that. As well as would be walks that were called strikes on 3-2 counts.
Cardinals would never pay $15 mil for Ozuna. They’re starting Tampa Milwaukee way. No new contracts in double figures per year
Braves likely eat all or most of Soler’s remaining contract and trade him over the winter. He’s not a good defensive fit and he and Ozuna on the same roster for anything but the stretch run is redundant
You don’t have to eat as much as you’re implying. A team without a permanent DH fixture would likely view him as worth a good bit of that money. I mean he just got the deal the year before and was well above average offensively. I don’t see why the market would be so different now.
The Braves need to go into a full rebuild if they ever expect to make the playoffs again.
Funny!
The Braves should trade Albies, Acuna, and Murphy at next season’s trade deadline if the three of them are having good seasons. The Braves have a second baseman and catcher waiting at triple A and they would get a good haul of minor leaguers to restock their farm system. The Braves will never pay the money to resign Acuna or Albies so they should sell while the stock is high.
Alvarez will never hold down a starting job on the Braves. Dealing Acuna w/3 years of cheap control left is an insane proposition. Alvarez over Albies? Hilarious.
If you think Nacho can play shortstop, Arcia is the weak link not Albies or Acuna.
Imagine telling a Braves fan in April 2023 that we’d take Marcell’s club option at the end of 24. It’s a remarkable comeback he’s had
So if you add the $2m Jackson buyout, that’s a $41m 2025 BP, before you add 4 more guys.
There are 3 playoff teams that could, if they chose, to field an opening day roster, without major losses off their playoff roster, in the $40-$50m range (DET, BAL and CLE). That is one pricey BP. Four of the 30 highest paid relievers.
Why not keep some reserve and make a play for Vlad or Soto
They do not need a first baseman so Vlad makes no sense. They would never pay the price for Soto plus the Braves don’t usually deal with Scott Boras clients
That’s their key to stability. No Boras clients come Free Agency. Stops the major overpays from happening.
There is also a team option on Whit Merrifield. I hope they bring him back, but it will probably be too costly. It doesn’t say how much the option year (’25) is, but his (’24) salary was $8M.!
Soler is peaks and valleys and ultimately he was a mistake thinking there were other players to trade for at that time, never undertood the love affair with smith-shawer, I mean, they treat this giy like if he’s another version of Nolan Ryan, their unwilingness to incluye him in a trade for someone who could actually help is perplexing, kelenic was a mistake for the amount of money it cost to trade for him, giving another year to Morton was unwise. I didn’t undertood the love with Murphy but this 2 years have proven so far the trade was a disaster, Williams contreras would’ve been better staying with the braves. Hopefully they come to their senses, but smith-shawer is not prime rookie anymore, people would hesitate to trade for him today.
Tough to read
Yes, never undertood the need to trade contreras. His offense and personality were amazing! He brought a lot of joy to the Braves that season and it would’ve been great to have him.
This year Murphy was injured, so it’s a year to write off. He’ll be better next year.
get rid of Jackson and Lee
Why Lee?!?
Yep. Lee’s one of the most underrated lefties in the league. Well above average numbers plus he’s going to arbitration for the first time this winter. Still going to be extremely affordable. Way too much production and value to be dealt. The Braves need inexpensive roster players to offset the more expensive contracts.
We won a World Series with Ryan Klesko playing LF (retroactively graded -727 DRS, —38 fWAR by Fangraphs for the 1995 season). We can survive a year with Soler playing LF for 7 innings a game.
Trade Ozuna to recoup anything for the farm, Soler to DH, and use the money from Ozuna and Morton on signing Kim for SS and Sugano to take Morton’s spot.
Happy Trav is back. A very underrated foundation of the team.
Not really. Apples and oranges.
Ozuna kept his mouth shut. That was his one smart thing.
I thought Bauer deserved every day of his suspension but it is finished. Each owner just needs to decide if Trevor will hurt team revenue more than help it. Baseball is family-friendly. But if Bauer would promise to keep his mouth shut, I could care less if he comes back or not.
Trade Ozuna and Soler, decline Jackson, let Fried and Minter sign elsewhere.
Bring back Laureano, Gio Urshela and maybe Merrifield if he’ll sign for around $5M even if it’s 2 years for $10M
The DH spot can be used for Acuña, d’Arnaud and even Riley.
Fried, Minter and Merrifield are gone