There has obviously been a need in the Braves lineup for a power bat in the wake of Josh Donaldson signing with the Minnesota Twins recently. The top third of the lineup of Acuna/Albies/Freeman is among the best in the league, but offense does dry up a bit after that.
However, the problem is that the options at third base are, at best, complicated when both Nolan Arenado and Kris Bryant are the most obvious targets and neither are going to be easy to acquire for a number of reasons.
The reporting had been that the Braves had been interested in pivoting to an outfield bat to fill their power needs and rely on Johan Camargo and, potentially, Austin Riley to man third base. The Braves did just that as they have officially signed outfielder Marcel Ozuna per the official team press release below.
#Braves Sign OF Marcell Ozuna: pic.twitter.com/HjXjrPGSRk
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) January 22, 2020
Ozuna will likely play left field and fills the Braves’ need for a power bat this offseason. The Braves will give a draft pick to the Cardinals as a result of Ozuna receiving a qualifying offer from St. Louis at the beginning of the offseason. This move puts the 40 man roster full, with 40 players. Ozuna has been a consistently good middle of the order bat throughout his career with one phenomenal season in Miami in 2017 in which he put up 5.0 fWAR and a 143 WRC+. There is still a hole at third base in Atlanta, but the batting order now seems far more threatening with Ozuna presumably occupying the cleanup spot.