Outfielder Marcell Ozuna and the Atlanta Braves reached an agreement for a four-year, $ 64 million contract, the team announced in a statement Friday.
The contract includes a fifth-year option for the club that would raise the profit to 80 million, 65 million in guaranteed money, the team said.
Ozuna bet on himself after the 2019 season, rejecting an offer of 17.8 billion from the St. Louis Cardinals signed a one-year, $ 18 million contract with the Braves in late January. The move was worth it, as the toletero finished sixth in the National League JMV vote after leading the league with 18 homers, 56 RBIs and 145 total bases. He was third in the National League with a .338 batting average and a 636 slugging percentage, the best of his career.
The bet? The Cardinals ’qualifying bid of $ 17,800,000 would have accounted for 41 percent of his career earnings so far.
While a shoulder injury in 2018 is considered a risk, Ozuna, who will turn 30 in November, saw some action in the left field with the Braves in the reduced schedule of 60 games, last season, for the pandemic. However, most of his batting turns with Atlanta occurred as the team’s designated hitter.
Before joining the Braves, Ozuna spent two seasons with the Cardinals, protecting Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup as they returned to the playoffs in 2019. Over the past five seasons, including 2020, Ozuna has reached 130 homers and two calls to Star Games with the strength of his bat.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Ozuna has 357 drives, surpassed only by Nolan Sorrejat of the Rockies (384) hyper ahead of Freeman (343) among National League players, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
In eight seasons at MLB, he has a batting average of 276, with 166 homers, 594 RBIs and 505 RBIs with the Marlins, Cardinals and Braves.