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.
AllAboutBaseball
Ozuna from the Braves!
twozero6ix
Always trust in the Braves FO to make the right moves
herecomethephillies2018
*cough* Cole Hamels *cough*
RunDMC
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.
rct
@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.
This one belongs to the Reds
I am sure Bummer doesn’t think it is one.
Warden of the North(acoss13)
I’m sure he’s not at all Bummed out of not being anywhere near the White Sox!
Skyrider123
Id trade Soler and Kelenic this offseason and get a better outfield replacement that can play defense along side Harris and Acuna.
Rishi
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.
Rishi
Idk why it said support me. Phone autocorrect I guess. I meant “with”.
mlb fan
“Why would they trade”…Agreed. He totally has limited value and so therefore has more value to the Braves than other teams.
Stlhomers
Ozuna back to STL?
mlb fan
“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.
Old York
Still can’t believe Ozuna is allowed to play in the MLB, after all the things he did.
Skyrider123
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.
Big Hurt
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.
YourDreamGM
He’s a bargain.
rct
2.29 FIP and 11.2 K/9 with only 2.9 BB/9 is worth the cash.
ButchieYost619
Yeah – somehow Ozuna has been allowed to remain.
YankeesBleacherCreature
With all the injuries they’ve had, the Braves wouldn’t have even made the playoffs without him.
Asfan0780
Get Georgia native Lawrence butler from A’s, the braves always rip them off lol
jdgoat
The Braves can get Butler. Another team that rips off the A’s in my Blue Jays can get Rooker!
inkstainedscribe
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.
YourDreamGM
I never had a knee injury but seems hitting and running the bases would be harder than playing outfield.
10centBeerNight
Kelenic is a Clint Frazier level bust
baseballpun
Hall of Famer Clint Frazier?
Rishi
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.
Turdstomper12
Cecil Upshaw should be brought back.
johnsilver
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.
Old York
@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.
Rishi
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.
RunDMC
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.
Rishi
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.
RunDMC
I didn’t want to beat a dead horse…lol.
PoisonedPens
I didn’t realize what a brutal season Sean Murphy had….that contract extension has to be jangling the nerves a bit.
RunDMC
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.
Youtube.com/@PINGTR1P
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.
Mike56
Cardinals would never pay $15 mil for Ozuna. They’re starting Tampa Milwaukee way. No new contracts in double figures per year
Rsox
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
TomandHelen
The Braves need to go into a full rebuild if they ever expect to make the playoffs again.
Skyrider123
Funny!
JMuzza
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
Atloriolesfan
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.