Latest news with #MarcellOzuna
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Sport
- Reuters
MLB roundup: Braves beat Reds after 16-run eighth inning
August 1 - Marcell Ozuna's sacrifice fly drove in Matt Olson with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the visiting Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-11 on Thursday night in a wild game in Cincinnati. After the Braves scored eight runs in the top of the eighth, the Reds followed with eight runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. It was just the third time in major league history that both teams scored eight-plus runs in the same frame, per Elias Sports Bureau. Pierce Johnson (2-3) didn't surrender any hits in the ninth to collect the win, and Raisel Iglesias was perfect in the 10th to earn his 13th save in 18 chances. Atlanta's Ozzie Albies had four hits and two RBIs, and Ozuna contributed a single, three walks and three runs. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Spencer Steer each had three-run home runs in the Reds' eight-run eighth inning while Elly De La Cruz hit his first home run since June 23 in the third inning, snapping the longest homer drought of his career. Yankees 7, Rays 4 Ben Rice hit a three-run homer in the second inning after Giancarlo Stanton blasted a two-run shot in the first as host New York raced out to a seven-run lead and recorded a victory over sliding Tampa Bay. Yankees starter Marcus Stroman (3-2) allowed four runs on six hits in five innings. Jonathan Loaisiga converted his first save with a shutout ninth as New York won the last three games of the four-game series. Brandon Lowe had two hits for the Rays, who have lost seven of eight. Ryan Pepiot (6-9) gave up seven runs on six hits in four innings. Mariners 6, Rangers 0 Cal Raleigh hit his major-league-leading 42nd home run of the season and George Kirby pitched six strong innings as Seattle defeated visiting Texas in the opener of a four-game series. Kirby (6-5) continued his mastery of the Rangers by allowing just three hits. In 10 career starts against Texas, Kirby is 8-0 with a 1.04 ERA. Rookie Cole Young hit a solo shot and a run-scoring triple for the Mariners. Texas starter Kumar Rocker (4-5), who was 3-0 over his previous seven starts, gave up three runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. --Field Level Media
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Braves top Reds in extras after teams score 16 runs in 8th
August 1 - Marcell Ozuna's sacrifice fly drove in Matt Olson with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-11 on Thursday night in a wild game in Cincinnati. After the Braves scored eight runs in the top of the eighth, the Reds nearly completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of their storied franchise by erasing an 11-3 deficit. They followed with eight runs of their own in the bottom half. After a scoreless ninth inning, Atlanta's Ozuna cashed in the free runner Olson off Emilio Pagan (2-4) in the first extra inning to help the Braves go ahead for good and survive blowing the eight-run, eighth-inning lead. Pierce Johnson (2-3) didn't surrender any hits in the ninth to collect the win and Raisel Iglesias was perfect in the 10th to earn his 13th save in 18 chances. Ozzie Albies went 4-for-6 and drove in two runs for the Braves, who erased an early 3-0 hole and broke open a 3-3 game with an eight-run eighth, as Atlanta sent 11 batters to the plate. The first eight batters of the bottom half recorded hits for Cincinnati and all scored, with Ke'Bryan Hayes and Spencer Steer belting three-run homers. Reds right-hander Brent Suter stopped the hemorrhaging in the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth before Pagan came on for the 10th. This is the second historic collapse by the Braves' bullpen this season. On June 5, Atlanta blew a 10-4 ninth-inning lead at home and lost 11-10 to Arizona. But this time the Braves came out on top. Atlanta has won four of the five meetings this season with Cincinnati, clinching the season series for the fourth time in five years. Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI double from Tyler Stephenson to left-center. An inning later, Elly De La Cruz belted a Carlos Carrasco pitch to the grass berm in center for his first home run since June 23 against the New York Yankees. The 30-game drought was the longest of De La Cruz's career and spanned 114 at-bats. Cincinnati's top starter this season, Andrew Abbott, didn't have command from the start, walking five and striking out just one while allowing three runs -- two earned -- in 5 1/3 innings. --Field Level Media
New York Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trade deadline Q&A with Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos: What happened to selling?
CINCINNATI — After the Atlanta Braves, undermined by injuries and underperforming players all season, fell from postseason contention early and arrived at Thursday's trade deadline with the fourth-worst record in the majors, a consensus around baseball was that they would be sellers for the first time since 2017. Advertisement But the deadline passed without the Braves making any significant moves. They added a couple of inexpensive veteran starters earlier in the week to plug holes in their depleted rotation, traded for Colorado reliever Tyler Kinley, deals that cost the Braves practically nothing. Oh, and they traded away veteran reliever Rafael Montero on Wednesday for a Double-A utility infielder. But the more substantial deals many believed the Braves would make, such as trading away designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias, who'll be free agents this winter, did not happen. The Braves did nothing Thursday. Braves general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos discussed the situation during a Zoom call with reporters shortly after the deadline. Anthopoulos said the #Braves weren't going to trade away any players just for payroll purposes — i.e., they weren't going to dump guys to save money and get nothing of value back in terms of talent. — David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 31, 2025 On why the Braves didn't trade any of the players so many observers believed they would: I know there was a ton of speculation — obviously, I read it, I saw all of it for months — about different names. But our goal at this deadline was to focus on guys that could help us in '26 and beyond. Or had the chance to, whether that's through club options with guys like (Tyler) Kinley and so on. And it just didn't materialize. But (about) young guys that have club control beyond this year, you can have conversations now and those can continue on into the winter … Obviously, a lot of players were moved at this trade deadline. In terms of us trading our players, it's tough to get specific about guys (still) here and on the roster. Like any trade deadline, you have tons of discussions. People are inquiring about all kinds of players. Sometimes there is speculation, and some of it's predicated on how guys are performing and things like that. But I can tell you guys that had club control beyond this year, in terms of (trade) conversations, that was a different bar for us. Advertisement (Anthopoulos explained that the Braves weren't going to trade anyone with club control beyond 2025 — for example, reliever Pierce Johnson has a $7 million club option for 2026 — without getting a significant return in such a deal.) On Ozuna having trade-veto rights as a player with at least 10 years of service and five with his current team: Obviously, Marcell Ozuna has an expiring contract, and he has 10-and-5 rights. He's got a full no-trade (through that). We don't, as a matter of policy, give no-trade clauses (in contracts). But guys earn it, which is great. If you earned that right because you've been productive and performing, you have the right to have a full no-trade. Things like that are much more complicated, and the club doesn't have control of that. I'm not trying to insinuate anything at all, but those aren't just expiring contracts. They're not as simple. Obviously Raisel Iglesias was the other expiring contract; I know his name was out there. And again, I haven't had a conversation with him, so I'm trying to be mindful and respectful of those things, but we weren't just going to give players away, move guys just to move them or just to dump salary. That happens at times at trade deadlines. We've been part of (other) teams just wanting to save money at the deadline, and we would take on a contract. We were not in that position. If we were going to move any player, we were going to have to get something back that we liked. I'm speaking for the 26-man roster: Some guys are just not having the years that they've had in the past, so that ultimately, it goes without saying, would impact the interest level and the inquiries. So again, I am not calling anybody out. I am not specifying anybody. I want to be very clear on that. You can give players away at any time, but I don't know that that makes the organization better unless your (objective) is to just save money. Do you think Ozuna understands he might not get his usual playing time in his final two months before free agency? One thing about Marcell, he's been an amazing teammate. He's gone through a lot here, and he has been a model teammate. He really has. He's gone through not playing as much, playing a ton. I've told (manager Brian Snitker) this all the time —that April (2023), he was struggling; it was arguably one of the worst Aprils in the history of baseball. And then he came back and had 40 home runs in five months and a .900 OPS. Advertisement Snit stuck with him. Snit has the lineup card. He always has. He plays who he wants to play. Obviously, he's managing (Sean Murphy), (Drake) Baldwin, and Marcell (divvying up DH duties). And Marcell's in the lineup today. Those are decisions that Snit makes. Marcell's always been a consummate pro. The one thing about Snit is, he's been consistent about playing guys. We've had players lose playing time. Joc Pederson lost playing time that year (2021), and Eddie Rosario came up and played well. Sean Murphy lost playing time. Adam Duvall lost playing time. But when they're playing well, they gain playing time, so he's been very consistent as a manager, which you love. I think that's why players love him and respect him. He's not looking at free agency, contracts, any of that kind of stuff. He's doing what he feels is best when he puts the lineup out, and players know that if they have a question, they can walk into his office and have that conversation. He's going to shoot them straight. His intentions and his motives are always pure. He's trying to win…So with respect to Marcell, I can't answer for him. It's not a conversation I've had with him. The lineup and the playing time, that's a Snit discussion. But knowing Marcell the way I do, he's always been a pro. Even when he wasn't playing, he's been an amazing teammate. Did Ozuna use his 10-and-5 rights to veto a trade? No, we did not approach him with anything. On the interest level that other teams had in Braves players who might've been available Guys who are having All-Star seasons and all that kind of stuff, you're going to have strong interest. Guys having seasons that are not the norm for their careers and what they've done, the interest level isn't the same. Sometimes it isn't there. That's not being specific about anybody. But you see these guys, they've had phenomenal careers, they're capable of so much, they've set a really high bar. But guys have down seasons, and that impacts the level of interest. That's just common sense. We were not interested in just dumping players and trying to shed some money. When you look at some trade deadlines for us, we were very active in doing that and acquiring players where, not to disparage any players, but there were financial implications that were clearly a big part of moves on the other side (in a trade). It was pretty obvious at the time that being able to save dollars and things like that were a strong part of their motivation, and we were fortunate enough to have ownership and (chairman) Terry McGuirk, who would say go ahead and add to payroll and so on. We were not in that position (like teams who've traded to the Braves to dump payroll). Ultimately, we felt like, if you look at the pros and cons and the top line on the pros is, we saved some salary, that didn't make any sense for us. Advertisement In a year like this, what's the benefit of not making a move just to shed payroll? If that's the attitude — just unload every single player and just dump them — you still have other guys on the roster. You still owe it to your clubhouse, your fan base, you owe it to everybody to do the best for the organization. To position yourself. If it's not happening this year, then going forward. Obviously, you'd love to do that. But if you don't think that that's there, shedding salary and just gutting the team — I just don't see why that would make sense.' (Photo of Alex Anthopoulos from 2023: Matthew Grimes Jr. / Atlanta Braves / Getty Images)
New York Times
12 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
One question for every team in the National League, 4 hours until the deadline
Here are the most pressing questions as the time ticks down toward the MLB trade deadline: They are selling, right? The Braves have talent, but they also have a terrible record and very little chance of making a playoff run. The assumption has been that they'll sell — especially DH Marcell Ozuna — but so far, they've made only a minor trade of Rafael Montero while actually acquiring a bunch of spare parts for their rotation. Are they going to do something of substance or not? Advertisement How much is Sandy Alcantara worth? He's 29 years old with a 6.36 ERA, but Alcantara also won a Cy Young Award three years ago. He still has a huge fastball, and his last two starts have been excellent. So, what's that worth? Alcantara has been one of the market's most intriguing trade candidates, and negotiations could come down to the wire. (Related: Same question for Edward Cabrera.) Is Luis Robert Jr. their answer in center field? The rival Phillies also had a need in center field, and they addressed it within the hour by trading for Harrison Bader. But the Mets are also in the center field market, where there is perhaps safety in Cedric Mullins, but there's risk-reward upside in Robert (there's also Alek Thomas of the Diamondbacks). It's possible the Mets could try to add offense elsewhere. Have they done enough? The Phillies have been trying to win for a few years now, and Wednesday night, Dave Dombrowski made his boldest deadline move since taking over the team's baseball ops (Jhoan Durán). This afternoon, he's followed by addressing the team's hold in center field (Harrison Bader). Is that enough? The Phillies are good as it is. Bullpen and a right-handed bat were their biggest needs. Does Dombrowski have one more move in him? Could anyone convince them to trade MacKenzie Gore? Trading Michael Soroka to the Cubs was easy. Soroka was a pending free agent on a team going nowhere, and the Nationals had no reason to keep him, but they also weren't going to get a ton for him. Gore, on the other hand, would bring back a bounty. Buyers seem to be interested. Could one of them make an offer the Nationals can't refuse? Is Matt Shaw the answer at third base? Heading into this week, the Cubs were known to be exploring the market for third basemen, despite Shaw having gotten hot in recent weeks. But that third base market has largely dried up with Eugenio Suárez, Ryan McMahon, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Ramon Urías traded. We're kind of assuming the Cubs will eventually get a starting pitcher, but could they take a shot on Yoán Moncada, Willi Castro or one of the other possibilities at third base? Or, is it Shaw's position the rest of the way? Advertisement Do they have a meaningful hole left to fill? The Reds have been aggressive, perhaps more aggressive than anyone would have suspected just a few weeks ago. They've traded for a third baseman (Ke'Bryan Hayes) and a starter (Zack Littell), getting creative by moving pieces around to ultimately address needs in the outfield and the bullpen. Their priorities have been addressed. Is there more for Nick Krall to do? What do they want? The Brewers are a bit tough to figure out this deadline. They've certainly played their way into buyer status, but they've so far made only a move to supplement at catcher (Danny Jansen). They've reportedly been in the market for a left-handed first baseman and a late-inning reliever. They could get creative with some of their rotation depth. The Brewers are good, but what exactly are they going to do to get even better? Are they going to make another significant move? Trading away Ke'Bryan Hayes was a fairly bold move that opened some payroll for the coming years, but it doesn't mean the Pirates are fully selling. In fact, reporting suggests they're planning to hold only Mitch Keller, and it's no sure thing they'll trade either David Bednar or Dennis Santana. Could they be convinced to sell more meaningfully, or is it going to be just Hayes and maybe some rentals? Sounds like the Yankees are making them consider a Bednar move. Will they do anything bigger than the Ryan Helsley trade? The Cardinals have traded away two relievers — Helsley and Steven Matz — and could trade at least one more (Phil Maton). Those are the obvious moves. More interesting and impactful are the possible trades of Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. We're not expecting either one to move, but those trades would be eye-opening. Will they trade both Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly? The Diamondbacks were expected to be aggressive at the deadline, and indeed they've traded both of their corner infielders (Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor). Now, they're in the final hours holding two keys to the starting pitching market. Gallen and Kelly are among the most intriguing arms on the table. Will the Diamondbacks move them both? Advertisement How many relievers will they trade? The Rockies rarely do much at the deadline, but this year they've made a bold trade — by their standards — sending Ryan McMahon to the Yankees. Is this the year they keep going and actually start to rebuild? Relievers Jake Bird, Victor Vodnik and Seth Halvorsen have been mentioned in various trade talks. Does Andrew Friedman have a surprise up his sleeve? Last summer, the Dodgers made a big three-team trade for Michael Kopech and Tommy Edman, and then they delivered the final blockbuster by trading for Jack Flaherty in the final minutes before the deadline passed. The Dodgers have been relatively quiet (they just got reliever Brock Stewart from the Twins). Do they have an 11th-hour surprise in store? Was the Mason Miller deal a setup to do more? A.J. Preller is always a wild card at the deadline, and Thursday he's pulled off a stunning deal for A's closer Mason Miller and left-handed starter JP Sears. Surely that's not all Preller has in mind. The Padres still need offense, and Preller could get creative with Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez. Grab your popcorn and watch what happens. Will they trade closer Camilo Doval? The Giants looked like buyers for a while, but they reached the deadline trending in the wrong direction, and that's already cost them right-handed reliever Tyler Rogers. A more valuable piece of the Giants bullpen is closer Camilo Doval, who's had a resurgent season and comes with two more years of team control. Would the Giants continue to rebuild by trading him as well?
Newsweek
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Newsweek
Braves Cutting Ties With Marcell Ozuna? Rangers, Padres Reportedly Teams to Watch
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 aren't just in the middle of a disappointing season in which they've become trade deadline sellers. They also don't have much to sell. Shipping Rafael Montero to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday was something, but compared to the other teams whose playoff odds have disappeared, the Braves have very few chips to move. Two other names to monitor are designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias. Both players were huge parts of the Braves' success last season, and if we'd known before Opening Day that either would be available at the trade deadline, we'd have been shocked. SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 08: Marcell Ozuna #20 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a double in the top of the second inning against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on July 08, 2025... SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 08: Marcell Ozuna #20 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a double in the top of the second inning against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on July 08, 2025 in Sacramento, California. MoreBut stocks are down on both players, and the Braves just have to take whatever they can get as they head toward free agency. Perhaps, though, a couple teams' dire needs will lead to a bit of a market for Ozuna. On Thursday, ESPN's David Schoenfield noted that the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers both have such negligible production from the DH position that they might get involved in the Ozuna sweepstakes. "Ozuna's trade value is diminished since he's strictly a DH and has struggled for two months after posting a .426 OBP and .883 OPS through the end of May. Since then, he has hit .176 with a .600 OPS and has lost some of his DH at-bats to rookie catcher Drake Baldwin," wrote Schoenfield. "But there's no reason for the Braves to keep him, and the Rangers and Padres happen to have the worst DH production in the majors and could take a chance on an Ozuna hot streak. He did indeed homer Monday and Tuesday, so maybe one is coming." Ozuna, a 34-year-old three-time All-Star, owns a .759 OPS/114 OPS+ on the season. Most teams don't want even a slightly above-average hitter clogging up their DH spot, but the Rangers and Padres, both of whom have a legitimate shot at a wild-card spot, might be desperate enough. More MLB: Yankees' Ryan McMahon Has Five-Word Message After First Bronx Walk-Off
