Marcell Ozuna's $16M Contract Option for 2025 MLB Season Exercised by Braves

The Atlanta Braves unsurprisingly exercised the $16 million contract option on Marcell Ozuna's contract on Monday.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post previously reported the team was expected to exercise Ozuna's option.

The 33-year-old was fantastic in the 2024 campaign, hitting .302 with 39 homers, 104 RBI, 96 runs, 31 doubles and a .925 OPS, earning his third All-Star Game berth in the process. He was a huge reason why the Braves were able to reach the playoffs despite season-ending injuries to star players in Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley and Spencer Strider, alongside a wave of injuries across the roster in general.

Atlanta's October baseball was short-lived, as the San Diego Padres swept them out of the Wild Card Round. But winning 89 games and even having a shot in the postseason was a minor miracle and a testament to players like Ozuna, Chris Sale, Matt Olson, Max Fried, Michael Harris Jr. and Ozzie Albies.

So coming into the offseason, there was little doubt that Ozuna would return:

"Those guys had great years," Braves' general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters regarding the trio of Ozuna, Bummer and d'Arnaud, "so they've put themselves in great spots [to return]."

And Ozuna confirmed back in May that he wants to remain in Atlanta.

"I wanna play a couple more years, but I want to finish here," he told Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's good and I don't want to keep moving and (have) to (be) making new friends and new teammates. We'll see what happens. It's not my decision. My decision is already set up. If God gives me the opportunity to finish here, I'll finish here. If God gives me the opportunity to be somewhere else, I'm gonna be somewhere else. Wherever God puts me in my destiny, I'm gonna take it."

Now, he'll be sticking around in Atlanta.