The Atlanta Braves have struck an agreement to bring back outfielder Marcell Ozuna on a four-year, $64 million deal, the team announced in a statement Friday.
The contract includes a fifth-year club option that would take it to $80 million and $65 million in guaranteed money, the team said.
Ozuna took a gamble on himself after the 2019 season, turning down a $17.8 million qualifying offer from the St. Louis Cardinals, and signed a one-year, $18 million deal with the Braves in late January. The move paid off handsomely, as the slugger finished sixth in the National League MVP voting after leading the league with 18 home runs, 56 RBIs and 145 total bases. He was third in the NL with a career-best .338 batting average and .636 slugging percentage.
The bet? The $17.8 million qualifying offer by the Cardinals would’ve represented 41% of his career earnings to that point.
While considered somewhat of a defensive liability after suffering a shoulder injury in 2018, Ozuna, who turned 30 in November, did see some action in left field for the Braves while playing all 60 games during the pandemic-shortened season. However, most of his at-bats for Atlanta came as the team’s designated hitter, slotted after MVP Freddie Freeman in the lineup as the Braves won the NL East title after putting up some of the best offensive numbers in team history.
Prior to joining the Braves, Ozuna spent two seasons with the Cardinals, protecting Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup as they made it back to the playoffs in 2019. Over the past five seasons, including the 60-game season in 2020, Ozuna has hit 130 home runs, making two All-Star Games on the strength of his bat.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Ozuna has 357 RBIs, second only to the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado (384) and just ahead of Freeman (343) among National League players, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
In eight MLB seasons, he has a .276 batting average with 166 home runs, 594 RBIs and 505 runs scored for the Marlins, Cardinals and Braves.