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Padres Named 'Best Fit' for Braves Slugger Marcell Ozuna at Deadline

Padres Named 'Best Fit' for Braves Slugger Marcell Ozuna at Deadline

Newsweek3 days ago
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The Atlanta Braves are reportedly looking to move all of their expiring contracts at the trade deadline, including designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
As the Braves have all but fallen out of the playoff race, MLB insider Jeff Passan believes the Padres are one of the teams that should be pursuing Ozuna too boost their chances of a deep playoff run.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 09: Marcell Ozuna #20 of the Atlanta Braves runs to third base at Sutter Health Park on July 09, 2025 in Sacramento, California.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 09: Marcell Ozuna #20 of the Atlanta Braves runs to third base at Sutter Health Park on July 09, 2025 in Sacramento, California."Ozuna is a stone-cold DH, playing two games in the field in 2023 as his last regular-season experience defensively," wrote Passan. "Ozuna is also in a contract year, but his power numbers are down a notch from his standout .302 average and 39-homer performance last season. His on-base percentage remains among the highest of potential trade candidates. If anyone is moving from Atlanta, he's the likeliest candidate, with free agency beckoning."
The Padres have struggled to find consistency this season at the DH spot, so Ozuna would slot into the lineup right away for San Diego. Entering Monday, Ozuna was hitting .235 with 13 home runs, 42 RBI and an OPS+ of 112 despite some recent struggles.
"Best fits: San Diego, Seattle, Texas, Detroit, San Francisco," wrote Passan.
General manager A.J. Preller has shown in the past that he'll do whatever it takes to make his team as strong as possible heading into the final two months of the regular season and playoffs. He's been creative about it in the past, and he will find new ways this year as well.
One aspect that works in the Padres' favor is that Ozuna is a rental, so they will not have to send back as much to Atlanta as they would for a bat with even just an extra year of control. If Ozuna hits well for San Diego, Preller could look to re-sign him in the offseason.
More MLB: Yankees' Pursuit of Third Baseman Eugenio Suarez Ramps Up Ahead of Deadline
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Rosenthal: Why Padres GM A.J. Preller's trade deadline approach will be as urgent as ever
Rosenthal: Why Padres GM A.J. Preller's trade deadline approach will be as urgent as ever

New York Times

time22 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Rosenthal: Why Padres GM A.J. Preller's trade deadline approach will be as urgent as ever

Some rival executives contend that San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller needs to act with urgency at the trade deadline. Their premise is not unreasonable. Future Hall of Fame third baseman Manny Machado, 33, is still in his prime. Several top Padres pitchers are likely headed to free agency. And the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers look more vulnerable than expected. Advertisement Here's the thing, though: Preller always acts with urgency. He would do that if he were under contract through 2036 instead of 2026. He also would do it if every Padres pitcher were eligible for free agency. Pitching turnover is not something Preller frets over. It's actually part of his plan. As usual, Preller will be one of the prime executives to watch at the deadline, pricing every available player, including his own. He will buy. He will sell. He again will distinguish himself as one of the few lead executives who operate without fear. What exactly does he intend? Check back Aug. 1. Preller might trade potential free-agent right-hander Dylan Cease and replace him with another starter. He might move closer Robert Suarez, who can hit the open market by declining a pair of $8 million player options, and pick off some other high-leverage reliever to keep his bullpen a strength. How much payroll flexibility Preller has — the Padres, according to FanGraphs, are slightly over the second, $261 million luxury tax threshold — is not known. Preller's stated goal, in an interview with MLB Network Radio, is adding 'a bat or two.' Left field, where the Padres ranked 28th in OPS entering Thursday's play, and catcher, where they ranked 26th, are the obvious positions to upgrade. But rarely does Preller follow a straight line. The Padres, since the offseason, have fielded offers on all of their potential free agents, including right-hander Michael King and first baseman Luis Arraez. When they are open to trading a player or interested in acquiring another team's player, it never qualifies as a surprise. What is surprising about the Padres is that they entered Thursday ranked 25th in runs per game, despite Preller's long-term commitments to Machado, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., shortstop Xander Bogaerts, center fielder Jackson Merrill and infielder Jake Cronenworth. Machado and Tatis are the only Padres with an OPS above .800. The lineup's lack of depth only adds to the pressure on the other supposed anchors. Advertisement Many in the industry expect the Padres to eventually crash under the weight of their big contracts. Bogaerts, 32, is earning $25 million per season through 2033. Machado, 33, has a backloaded deal that will pay him $35 million annually from 2027 to 2033. Tatis, 26, has a similar structure and will earn $36 million annually from 2029 to 2036. Those contracts may or may not prove albatrosses. But Preller's ability to continually regenerate his pitching staff, largely at club-friendly rates, is a big reason the Padres might reach the postseason for the fourth time in six years — and keep their competitive window open for the foreseeable future. The need for Preller to win with Cease, King and Suarez is no greater than the urgency he faced in 2023, when Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez were headed to free agency. How did Preller recover from their departures? By trading Juan Soto for pitchers King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vásquez and Jhonny Brito, then flipping Thorpe in a package for Cease. Preller doesn't exactly view pitchers as expendable, but he knows few stand the test of time the way a position player like Machado will. His long-term contracts for starters — five years, $100 million for Joe Musgrove, and six years, $108 million for Yu Darvish — were reasonable gambles (well, as reasonable as a deal extending through Darvish's age-42 season can be). Nick Pivetta's four-year, $55 million deal, which pays him only $4 million this season and gives him the ability to decline a player option after 2026, looks like a bargain. Yet, for all of Preller's best-laid plans, the Padres' rotation this season is not at all what he envisioned. Cease has been inconsistent. Musgrove is recovering from Tommy John surgery. King and Darvish also have missed huge chunks of time. Not to worry. The Padres entered Thursday ranked 12th in rotation ERA, in part because Preller keeps coming up with new arms. Advertisement Three relatively unheralded pitchers — Vásquez, Ryan Bergert (sixth round pick in 2021) and Stephen Kolek (Rule 5 pick from Seattle in 2023) — have combined for a 3.79 ERA in 204 1/3 innings. The Padres are drawing trade inquiries on Bergert and Kolek as well as Double-A prospects Henry Baez and Braden Nett, according to a source briefed on their discussions. All could contribute to next year's rotation, provided they are still with the team. Cease, a top-five Cy Young finisher in 2022 and '24, obviously has greater value, particularly in a market starved for top-of-the-rotation starters. To interested teams — which is to say, pretty much every contender — his 4.59 ERA matters only so much. His 3.48 expected ERA is more than a run per nine innings lower than his actual figure. His average fastball velocity (97.1 mph) and strikeout rate are in the top 12 percent of the league. Preller could use Cease to get the hitter he wants or to acquire prospects who would enable him to upgrade his offense in a larger deal. His farm system, ravaged by the Soto trade and other deals, includes two top prospects — shortstop Leodalis De Vries and catcher Ethan Salas — but little else beyond the lower levels. And Salas has been out since April 26 with a stress fracture in his back, effectively putting his trade value on hold. The Athletic's Keith Law and Baseball America ranked the Padres' system 26th before the start of spring training. Padres officials take such evaluations only so seriously. In 2022, the year the Padres acquired Soto and Josh Hader at the deadline, Law had them 15th before the season started, Baseball America 21st. Preller will figure out something. He always does. Let other teams sweat their models, fuss over surplus values and engage in paralysis by analysis. Urgency is Preller's default setting.

When he didn't pick Ichiro for Rookie of the Year, a writer became the story
When he didn't pick Ichiro for Rookie of the Year, a writer became the story

New York Times

time22 minutes ago

  • New York Times

When he didn't pick Ichiro for Rookie of the Year, a writer became the story

CLEVELAND — In January, when the Baseball Hall of Fame balloting results were released, and Ichiro Suzuki was not a unanimous selection, a longtime Cleveland sportswriter was quick to clarify: It wasn't him this time. Chris Assenheimer of the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio, has been in that lonely position before — as the only voter to snub the prolific Seattle Mariners right fielder more than two decades ago, in the 2001 Rookie of the Year vote. Advertisement Twenty-four years ago, Ichiro captivated Major League Baseball with a sterling rookie season. Now, he's headed to Cooperstown as a near-unanimous selection, left off the ballot of only one anonymous voter out of a pool of 394. Ichiro said in January he wants to 'have a drink' and a 'good chat' with the sole dissenter who prevented him from becoming the second unanimous selection (along with New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera) in the history of the Hall of Fame. Assenheimer would love to take up Ichiro on his offer and reminisce over some Bud Lights about a similar ordeal nearly a quarter-century ago. Bud Geracie, longtime columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, wrote in a November 2001 piece: 'Chris Assenheimer is the guy who didn't vote Ichiro Rookie of the Year, and boy does he look like one.' That dig was scooped up by a wire service and printed in newspapers across the country, including the L.A. Times. 'The joke is,' Assenheimer says now, in his 29th season on the Cleveland baseball beat, 'he was somehow AL MVP but not a unanimous Rookie of the Year.' Ichiro couldn't have scripted a better first year in Major League Baseball. After nine seasons, three MVP awards and seven batting titles in Japan's Pacific League, he joined the Mariners, who paid the Orix Blue Wave about $13 million and guaranteed Ichiro another $14 million. He was the first position player from Japan to sign a big-league contract, and he wasted no time in delivering on it. 'You knew Ichiro was going to be a star,' Assenheimer said. With a .350 average, he joined Tony Oliva (1964) as the only rookies since the turn of the 20th century to win a batting title. He set a rookie record with 242 hits, the most by anyone since Bill Terry and Chuck Klein in 1930. Only Ichiro himself has eclipsed that total since, with his MLB-record 262 in 2004. Advertisement He became the second rookie to win MVP (Fred Lynn, 1975) as he fueled Seattle to a record-tying 116 wins under manager Lou Piniella. The Mariners, even after departures in previous years of Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, reached the ALCS, where they fell to the dynastic Yankees. The Mariners hosted the All-Star Game that July. Ichiro immediately emerged as one of baseball's central attractions. Forget about the Rookie of the Year race. Ichiro planted himself in the conversation about the top players in the sport. 'To me, it was common sense,' Assenheimer said. 'The guy was not a rookie.' Assenheimer stood in the Cleveland Indians' clubhouse one day during the 2001 ALDS — they were the Mariners' opening-round opponent, coincidentally — and discussed his recently submitted Rookie of the Year ballot with a colleague. He had placed Cleveland pitcher CC Sabathia first, Ichiro second and Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano third. The other writer shot him a look and said, 'You're going to get some s—.' During the second week of November 2001, Assenheimer traveled to Houston for an anniversary trip with his then-wife, staying with another couple they knew. He took a call from a colleague who wrote for the Associated Press. That reporter quipped it was 'the lowest point' of his journalism career as he informed Assenheimer he was the lone Sabathia backer and asked him for a quote for a story. Later that night, Assenheimer and his wife were lying on the couch, watching a late-night edition of SportsCenter when, as Assenheimer recalls, anchor Stuart Scott announced Ichiro had received every first-place tally but one, thanks to a rogue voter who instead opted for Sabathia. Scott turned to his broadcast partner, Linda Cohn, and asked where she thought that voter resided. Advertisement 'They were calling me a homer and then (Scott) ripped into a diatribe, looking into the camera,' Assenheimer said. 'He's like, 'Chris, get over yourself. Don't tell us what you think the rules should be. Vote how the rules are.'' When they mentioned Assenheimer by name, the couple they were staying with screamed from upstairs. A whirlwind few days of interviews and insults was soon underway. Assenheimer's stance is simple, one he maintains 24 years later: Ichiro was not a rookie. He was an accomplished, award-winning player in a different league on the other side of the globe who had taken his talents to North America. Here's the quote Assenheimer supplied the AP in 2001: 'I just felt that Sabathia better met the criteria of what a rookie is in the truest sense of the word. That's nothing against Ichiro.' Here's how he feels about it after 24 years of reflecting: 'He was a seven-time All-Star (in Japan). They gave him (and his team $27 million) to sign. It was ridiculous.' Here's the thing: Ichiro, who collected a $75,000 bonus for winning, actually agreed with him… to an extent. 'I was a little embarrassed to be called a rookie here in the United States,' he said through an interpreter at the time. 'I was so relieved today when I heard this announcement I won the Rookie of the Year award because I felt this was an award I should have won without any doubt. If I won this award, I had wanted to win unanimously.' The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published the headline, 'Ichiro honored, irked.' It takes a special set of circumstances for someone to feel both of those emotions simultaneously. Assenheimer's one regret is that he didn't omit Ichiro entirely. He placed him second, behind only Sabathia, who went 17-5 with a 4.39 ERA in his age-20 season. 'I'll remember his numbers forever,' Assenheimer said. 'I would've liked his ERA to be a little lower.' Advertisement Assenheimer didn't take the stand he intended to: that Ichiro didn't fit the qualifications of a rookie. Instead, his ballot made it seem like he thought Ichiro was simply the second-best rookie performer. 'I shouldn't have even put him on the ballot,' Assenheimer said. 'But I guess I was thinking, 'OK, well, this is what Major League Baseball is making me do, vote for this guy for Rookie of the Year. I'm still going to not vote him first place.' It had nothing to do with CC.' At the time, Sabathia disagreed with Assenheimer's reasoning. 'The award is for first-year players in the big leagues, and (Ichiro) is definitely deserving of it,' Sabathia said. 'There's not an argument about that at all.' Assenheimer's choice had his phone ringing for days. He conducted interviews with Cleveland newspapers, USA Today and local and national radio shows. He called in to the nationally syndicated Mike & Mike, and listeners bestowed upon him the 'Just Shut Up' award. A Seattle morning radio show skewered him during an interview. Geracie wasn't the only one to use Assenheimer's surname as low-hanging fruit to make light of the situation. Phil Mushnick of the New York Post devoted an entire column to it, though Mushnick actually sided with Assenheimer's explanation. Mushnick wrote: 'Through a translator, (Ichiro) said, 'I was a little embarrassed to be called a rookie here in the United States.' Hey, Ich, how would you like to be called Assenheimer?' When Assenheimer received a call from a Japanese newspaper reporter, he feared he was public enemy No. 1. Quite the contrary, she told him. The consensus thought in Japan, she said, was that it was disrespectful to deem Ichiro a rookie, given his accolades. Even with nearly a decade of feats in the Pacific League, Ichiro still amassed 3,089 hits in MLB. That's how he landed a spot in the Hall of Fame, alongside, of all people, Sabathia. The two will be inducted, with reliever Billy Wagner and, posthumously, sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker, on Sunday in Cooperstown. It wasn't me again, Ichiro. — Chris AssenheimerC-T (@CAwesomeheimer) January 22, 2025 Last summer, Sabathia was inducted into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame. It was pointed out to Sabathia that his lone Rookie of the Year supporter was in the room, so Assenheimer, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, asked Sabathia if he felt like he got robbed. Sabathia, perhaps changing his original tune, said 'Definitely. Ichiro was not a rookie.' Advertisement Ichiro and Sabathia were both elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, with Ichiro's lone holdout voter opting to keep their identity a secret. Assenheimer didn't have that option in 2001, but he had no qualms about taking ownership of his ballot. This time, Assenheimer could vote for both Ichiro and Sabathia. 'The whole thing just seemed silly to me,' Assenheimer said. 'I guess I could have just fallen in line like everybody else did. People were trying to say, 'You just want to be known.' That never crossed my mind. But it was fun to be out there.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Houston Astros / Getty Images, Otto Greule / ALLSPORT, David Maxwell / AFP via Getty Images)

Aaron Judge is the world's best hitter. He's just as valuable to Yankees as a hitting coach
Aaron Judge is the world's best hitter. He's just as valuable to Yankees as a hitting coach

New York Times

time22 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Aaron Judge is the world's best hitter. He's just as valuable to Yankees as a hitting coach

NEW YORK — The room is small, with several rows of long white desks and roller chairs, and a large projection screen in the back. It's steps away from the home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, a ballpark where nearly every wall serves as a screaming billboard for the club's storied past — yet the space feels sparse, like a classroom at a community college. Advertisement Fitting, since it's where Aaron Judge, the son of high school teachers, does some of his best work off the field. While Judge may be the best hitter in baseball, his teammates say his behind-the-scenes presence in daily hitters meetings — from the information he offers to the atmosphere he cultivates — is a key differentiator for the New York Yankees, owners of the third-best offense in MLB in terms of runs scored. It's one thing to watch Judge. But to get a look inside his brain? 'It's cool to see what his process is, what he thinks about when he's hitting,' catcher J.C. Escarra said. 'More often than not,' catcher and first baseman Ben Rice said, 'he's got something to say.' Judge, always wary of self-congratulation, downplayed his contributions. 'I want everybody collaborating,' he said. 'Everybody just talking.' But even hitting coach James Rowson, who runs the meetings, called Judge's contributions 'invaluable.' 'He brings so much to the table,' Rowson said. Lately, it hasn't been pretty for the Yankees, who have gone 14-21 over their past 35 games while falling four games back in the American League East as of Thursday. But to get out of it, they're going to need to come together, and often for the Yankees that begins in their hitters meetings. For a typical night game, the Yankees' hitters meetings begin 3 1/2 hours before first pitch. The room is strategically located at the heart of the team's work area. It's directly across from the entrance to the clubhouse and just steps away from the batting cages and nutrition area, which features a tall cooler filled with sports drinks and shelves with MLB-approved supplements. Judge always sits somewhere in the middle. His teammates pile in around him, some holding iPads packed with statistics and videos, others gripping paper plates filled with the gourmet pregame spread. Rowson provides the opening remarks, and his assistants Pat Roessler and Casey Dykes offer analysis along the way. Sometimes manager Aaron Boone and other coaches attend. Advertisement Judge observes with laser focus, teammates say. Despite leading the league in so many major offensive categories, including batting average (.345) and OPS (1.170), he knows he has to be as prepared as anybody around him, especially as he continues to grow into his Yankees captaincy, now in its third season. 'The homework he does is incredible,' Rowson said. 'He comes to a hitters meeting already informed, but he also comes to get more. He knows what he's trying to do, and then he wanted to hear other guys and what their plans may be. There's a lot of communication.' He also knows when to lend a hand and when to step back. 'Sometimes, it's, 'Let me speak up,'' Goldschmidt said of Judge. 'Sometimes, it's, 'Let me just boost the morale of the team or the confidence.'' Long gone are the days when players would stroll into the clubhouses a few hours before the game, take batting practice on the field and consider themselves ready for first pitch. Most teams lay out schedules that include multiple pregame meetings, and the Yankees are no different. Every series, Yankees relievers go over the other team's hitters together. Every day, the starting pitcher meets with the catchers and coaches to plan for that game's start. The hitters hold a meeting to discuss the entire upcoming series before it starts, and then they have another meeting before every game. The hitters meetings typically start on a light note. Moments before it begins, a music video plays on the projector, and the volume is cranked up. Before a recent weekday game, it was 'Shake Ya Tailfeather' by Murphy Lee. 'It keeps guys loose,' Rowson said. 'Get them to easygoing. Part of coming out here every day and going through the grind is having fun. You've got to want to show up every day.' How deep Rowson dives into the opponent depends on what he feels the Yankees need to know. He'll litter his presentations with heat maps, pitch percentages and video clips, but he'll mix in questions designed to get the hitters talking to each other. Advertisement 'A good hitters meeting is not just all the analytical numbers (Rowson) has,' second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said, 'but hearing from guys who faced (the pitcher) and just speaking on what they see, how the ball moves, the way that guy has attacked guys in the past.' When the meeting finishes, they're free to continue their pregame preparation, which usually includes on-field batting practice approximately 2 1/2 hours before the game. 'Everyone is going to need something different,' Goldschmidt said. 'I may not want or need what Judgey wants or what maybe other guys want.' 'They construct their own plans,' Rowson said. 'Every human takes in information differently. It's about learning what you need. Nobody can take in everything.' For Judge, it's 'just a good opportunity for us to share little things.' He also leans on experience. Entering Friday, Judge had faced 1,013 pitchers over his 10-year career, according to Baseball Reference. He had gotten at least one hit against 567 of them. 'Pretty much anyone we face,' Rice said, 'he's faced before or he's seen someone similar at the minimum. He's usually got something to offer up. It's never anything crazy. He does a good job simplifying, saying something that everyone can digest.' Goldschmidt, who ranks fourth among active players in career hits, said it's 'crazy' to think that Judge can be as good as he is and still actively want to help those around him all the time. 'It's so hard to perform individually, especially at his expectation level,' Goldschmidt said. 'To be able to do it individually, and still be able to impact others around you is another layer that makes it even tougher. He does a really good job of that.' Judge said he gets as much out of the meetings as he gives. He said he likes to lean on Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger — longtime National Leaguers — in particular when the Yankees face NL opponents. Sometimes young players have faced rookie pitchers in the minor leagues, and what they share can change a fellow hitter's at-bat, too. Advertisement Judge also wants to know his teammates' plans at the plate so he can watch their at-bats in real time and provide feedback if he notices something unusual with a swing, or if that hitter strays from his approach. 'Maybe they'll help me recognize a slider a little sooner,' Judge said. 'It goes a long way. Even for me, talking to Goldschmidt, I've seen guys in our division 15 or 20 times. I can throw him a tidbit, tell him that I'm trying to eliminate a certain pitch and focus on these two (pitches), or to focus on a certain zone.' And sometimes, talking to Judge leaves teammates smiling and shaking their heads. Of course, it might be easy for Judge to take certain information and immediately use it on the field. But for mere mortals? 'It's pretty funny,' Escarra said. 'He's so talented. I can be thinking the same things and getting different results. But it's cool being in the same room and talking hitting with him.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic. Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

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