With the rumors around Atlanta Braves star Marcell Ozuna and his trade status with the deadline ending imminently, he is currently in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Cincinnati Reds, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. As the Braves acquired some pitching before the trade deadline, there haven't been any huge moves like one that could have featured Ozuna.
“[Manager Brian Snitker] has Ozuna in tonight’s lineup,” Bowman wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Ozuna is batting fourth tonight. Will be easy to put Baldwin in that spot if Ozuna is traded within the next two hours.”
There had been reports in the past of Ozuna going into Thursday's deadline that there was “movement” surrounding a potential deal, according to Buster Olney of ESPN on Tuesday.
“With little more than 48 hours to go before the deadline, there is movement developing around Marcell Ozuna, who has the power to reject any trade proposal. At least one team has had internal conversations about trying to work out a deal for the slugger,” Olney wrote.
Before Thursday's contest against the Reds, Ozuna is sporting a .233 batting average to go along with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs in 98 games.
The Braves were reportedly open to trading Marcell Ozuna
While the baseball world was discussing what the Braves didn't want to do at the trade deadline, one of them was not necessarily trading Ozuna, leaving some options on the table. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Atlanta didn't want to shed salary, but more so, they were open to dealing players on expiring contracts, naming Ozuna as one of the options.
“The team is willing to trade players on expiring contracts such as designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias, the source said,” Rosenthal wrote. “But it has no interest in merely dumping salary. Its goal in any deal would be to receive some level of talent in return.”
At any rate, with Ozuna in the lineup Thursday, one could lead to believe that the veteran designated hitter will stay with Atlanta, completing his sixth season with the ball club with the team at a 45-62 record. However, anything can happen in the remaining moments with the trade deadline at 6 p.m. (EST).
