ST. LOUIS — After two years in St. Louis, outfielder Marcell Ozuna is headed to the Atlanta Braves, the Braves announced Tuesday.
The team said they signed Ozuna to a one-year deal worth $18 million. Ozuna spent the last two years with the Cardinals and turned down the Cardinals' $17.8 million qualifying offer at the start of the offseason.
Because Ozuna declined the Cardinals' qualifying offer, the Cardinals will receive a compensation pick in the 2020 draft.
In an interview earlier this offseason, Ozuna said he would have preferred to stay in St. Louis, but wanted the Cardinals to up their offer. That seemed unlikely after Bill Dewitt's comments on the payroll at this weekend's Winter Warm-Up.
Ozuna was also connected to Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds at different points in the offseason.
Ozuna manned left field for the Cardinals and slugged 52 home runs in 1067 plate appearances over two seasons.
The Braves may have been motivated to chase Ozuna after his performance against them in the 2019 NLDS. In the first postseason series of his career, Ozuna went 9-21 with two home runs and five RBIs in the five-game series.
Ozuna will fill a middle-of-the-order hole for the Braves after third basemen Josh Donaldson left for a four-year, $92-million contract with the Minnesota Twins last week.
Ozuna will return to the NL East, where he spent the first part of his career. He played the first 5 years of his career with the Miami Marlins. He was selected to the NL All-Star Team in 2016 and 2017 and even garnered MVP voted in 2017 when he posted career highs in home runs(37), RBIs(124) and slugging percentage(.548).
The Cardinals and Braves will meet for an NLDS rematch on May 18 at Busch Stadium.
