Welcome to Marcell Ozuna, a Braves long-term solution

Well, knock me down with a throw pillow, Marcell Ozuna has four more years, perhaps five, to invent new and amusing pantomimes as he rounds the bases for the Braves. He has stirred it up. He has taken imaginary selfies. We now await his version of man-trapped-behind-invisible-wall.

The great hope is that his extra-base exploits become so plentiful and routine over the life of his new contract that soon enough all Ozuna can do is shrug.

Anyway, let more good times roll.

“Play the game, enjoy the game, have fun – that’s the only way to have success at that game,” Ozuna said on his Zoom call interview Saturday, condensing his plans for the next few years.

More on this, in case there is any lingering doubt as to his approach in playing a child’s game for multiples of millions: “I go happy and bring the energy. Music. Loud. Talk. Have fun. Joke. Everything,” he said.

The news broke Friday night that this team’s ongoing offseason agita had been soothed, that Ozuna had accepted an offer the Braves couldn’t refuse.

There is a touch of artfulness to the deal, once more proving that Alex Anthopoulos is no average baseball nerd. The Braves get their muscle for the middle of the lineup, and Freddie Freeman gets his genial protector. All for the one-time low offer of four years, $65 million. So good does the deal seem – everything’s relative in baseball Monopoly money – I’m surprised it didn’t come with a second Ozuna, absolutely free.

All reportedly backloaded – at $12 million, he’s actually scheduled to make $6 million less this season than he would have, non-pro-rated, last year. That should give Anthopoulos room to maneuver should he care to do some more tinkering with the bullpen.

There are good omens all through this deal, not the least of which concerns Freeman. There is nothing about the economy of the Ozuna contract that should get in the way of extending that of the team’s cornerstone first baseman. One that’s due to expire at the end of the season – the contract, not Freeman.

Ozuna said he has heard from his happy teammate. He said Freeman’s message went something like this: “Vamanos! Let’s go.” One language simply was not enough to express such joy. Now the mission is to guarantee that Freeman is in the Braves lineup for at least as many more years as Ozuna.

Joked Anthopoulos, “I’m going to get Marcell to do (Freeman’s) deal because he can do it fast and early. Marcell will be handling the Freddie Freeman deal so he can see what it’s like to be a (general manager).” Fine, whatever it takes.

The parties to the current agreement had strung each other along this offseason. Ozuna flirted with Tampa Bay. Anthopoulos bided his time, measuring a free-agent market that seemed to cool slightly as the prospects of a National League DH this season faded, cutting into Ozuna’s worth. But deep down, both sides knew they were meant to be together, leading to Saturday’s Hallmark moment.

This is a slightly giddy day for the Braves, all working on the assumption that the 30-year-old Ozuna will be close to as productive over full seasons as he was for the 60 games of the mutant 2020 campaign. Then, all he did was lead the league in home runs, RBIs and total bases, and make you believe for a moment that the year of the virus wasn’t a complete disaster. He was at the heart of an exciting Braves offense and was the getaway driver for Freeman taking the MVP.

Obviously, if the Braves have to live with Ozuna’s sometimes visually disturbing defense in left field for a season, they’re willing. Still, it would help everyone’s mood if the designated hitter becomes baseball-wide at least by 2022.

The real surprise here was that Anthopoulos crafted any sort of deal that extended beyond a single calendar. We just assumed he was the type who leased a car, rather than buy it. Who changed out his cellphone with every new model. And who passed out one-year contracts like they were his business card, plugging holes with ever-interchangeable parts. That’s, frankly, why I thought signing Ozuna would never happen.

But up stepped the Braves GM, proving that he doesn’t have commitment issues.

“To have him from the age of 30 to 33, and to have the option of age 34, I think those are great years for him,” Anthopoulos said of Ozuna. “He’s someone that is a middle-of-the-order bat. What he brings to the clubhouse – stability, all the other players knowing he’s one of our core guys now – it’s not someone we wanted to do a short-term deal with.”

“I trust him a lot,” Anthopoulos added. “I trust the person, I trust the worker, I trust the teammate. I’ve talked to him a lot about this, what it means to get a long-term deal, what it means to be a core guy, the extra responsibility and the example you set for the young players. He’s a guy I trust to handle that load beyond what I think he’s going to do on the field. He was critically important for us to have as a long-term, core piece.”

What is required now of Ozuna is to take root as a long-time Brave rather than a single-season curiosity. To show as much consistency as baseball allows. To be a north star for the younger set. And, for goodness sakes, to not show up this spring as behind the curve as he was last spring.

We can assume he will not lack for enthusiasm. “The experience I had with them last year was the best experience of my life. I’m proud to be an Atlanta Brave,” Ozuna said Saturday. “Let’s see what happens. Let’s roll this year and the next year and the next year and the next year. And when I’m finished, if they want to give me more (years), I’ll take that.”

A couple of weeks ago it seemed that Ozuna was but a Braves blip, all but gone and forgotten. And now you can’t get rid of the guy.