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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 19, 2022 21:54:04 GMT -5
Looked like he wasn't real drunk, probably passed the tests, but he probably sealed his fate by refusing the breathalyzer. Most likely he would have blown a high enough number to be arrested anyway even if he wasn't drunk. He seemed a little out of it just with his speech so he was probably screwed. And they were on their way to another bar, not even going home. Brought it all on himself and deserves it.
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Post by dirt on Aug 20, 2022 6:56:21 GMT -5
Jeff Schultz: He pulls no punches….
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to remove a passage that did not meet our editorial standards.
ATLANTA — It’s clear that the man just had a horrible lapse in judgment. But humans are a flawed species, and he has done so much for the Braves that he deserves a mulligan, and we should all view this as a singular blemish on a beautiful resume.
Wait, slow down. I’m talking about Alex Anthopoulos. Not Marcell Ozuna.
Anthopoulos’ horrible mistake came before the 2021 season when the Braves’ general manager signed Ozuna to a four-year, $65 million contract. Baseball will remember this as Anthopoulos’ “New Coke” moment. Fortunately for Anthopoulos, we are judged by our aggregate of credits and debits, and he built a World Series team and one of the strongest organizations in baseball, so he’s good in the big picture.
Ozuna? He has been arrested twice in less than 15 months.
Ozuna thanked Anthopoulos for a $65 million contract by putting together the two worst statistical seasons of his career and dragging the team through a trough of humiliation. He has been so bad that he was benched for four straight games before his night on the town in Norcross, despite a $16 million salary that sometimes influences lineup decisions. He responded to the benchings not by working hard to earn his manager’s trust but by getting pulled over at 3:35 a.m. Friday — after “like three or four” Presidente beers. According to a police incident report, he was speeding and ignoring little things like lanes. But he told an officer he was in Norcross for “the party” and on his way to an after-hours club.
This came after the Braves’ feel-good series win over the Mets that Ozuna had nothing to do with and before another important series against the Astros in a World Series rematch.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m Ozuna from the Braves,” he told the police officer while wearing a T-shirt with the words “Lucky Bastard” across the chest.
“I disappointed my team, I disappointed my family, I don’t have anything more to say. It’s a legal matter,” he told the media in an 18-second statement in front of his locker before retreating.
The Braves should dump him. Now. Or are we destined to hear the familiar and nauseating “We all deserve second chances” spin from shallow sports executives?
The Braves’ official statement was three sentences and read in part, “Our organization takes these matters very seriously and we are obviously disappointed by the situation. As this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment until the process is complete.”
Anthopoulos, the chief decision-maker in the organization, who’s always out front when players sign long-term contracts, did not make himself available to the media. That left manager Brian Snitker to serve as the lone spokesman. That wasn’t fair to him.
“We’re disappointed that it happened, and we’re gonna go on,” Snitker said before the game.
On whether there would be discipline: “I can’t answer that. I’m the wrong guy to ask.”
On whether Ozuna deserves to be on the team after two high-profile arrests: “I don’t know that I need to answer that, either.”
Let’s be clear about something, for those still swimming in Ozuna’s aberration of the shortened 2020 season (.338 batting average and 1.067 OPS): He is not an important part of this team. He’s not a good player. The Braves won a World Series without him in 2021. Anthopoulos needed a power hitter so he brought Ozuna back after 2020 when the Braves missed out on others during the winter.
Ozuna got the money. Then he tanked. He was hitting .213 with a .645 OPS when he went on the injured list with broken fingers. Then came the domestic violence incident. Charges that included felony aggravated assault eventually were reduced to two misdemeanors that could be dismissed with a pretrial diversion program.
Baseball ultimately gave him a retroactive 20-game suspension. But let’s be clear: He put his hands on his wife’s throat during an argument. He stopped when police officers suddenly showed up at his house.
The Braves released a statement after that arrest, saying in part that they would “not tolerate domestic violence in any form.”
But they clearly did tolerate it because they brought him back in 2022. They chose money over morals. Ozuna was still owed $53 million on a four-year, $65 million contract. That was just too much money to eat, apparently.
The Braves’ collective hope after something so abhorrent was that Ozuna would start playing again like he did in 2020, fans and media would continue to ride the euphoria of the World Series, and everybody would kind of forget. Oops.
Ozuna spoke empty words in spring training. He had “made a mistake,” he said as if he put too much flour in the bechamel sauce.
“My fans, I’m going to give you the best and I’m going to be a better person,” he said.
So this is his best? This is his better self?
He’s batting .214 with a .656 OPS this season. He’s no better than the fifth or sixth option at a time when NL teams have the DH spot to hide defensive liabilities. It remains to be seen if he gets another at-bat. What are the Braves going to do now — stall until the end of the regular season and not play him, then leave him off the playoff roster?
This franchise already embarrassed itself when it chose to bring him back. If it keeps him after this, if it plays him even once after another embarrassing incident, it will have lost every last ounce of credibility. The moral compass: broken.
The Braves have so many fresh, great stories on the roster now, like Spencer Strider, Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grissom. They have incredibly inspiring stores like Mike Soroka’s attempted comeback from two torn Achilles injuries. Ozuna just keeps overshadowing them.
They owe him $41 million. It’s a sunk cost at this point. If they want to fight the players’ union and try to contest the contract on some semblance of a morals clause, fine. But move on, already. Because money should not factor into this decision. It clearly was in the offseason.
Marcell Ozuna can say “I’m sorry” a million times. But words mean nothing. Life is about actions, and his actions scream it’s time for the Braves to acknowledge their mistake and release him. They can’t fix him, they can only heal themselves.
(Photo: Brad Mills / USA Today)
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 20, 2022 7:37:57 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that. He used the word embarrassment. I said the same thing last night. When I saw that bastard standing in the dugout wearing our uniform last night it was the first time I’ve ever felt embarrassed by our team.
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 20, 2022 8:30:15 GMT -5
And by the way, I felt embarrassed that management had allowed him to put the uniform on and be in the dugout. I was extremely impressed at how our guys didn’t let it be a distraction and played a great game against an elite team in a yuge moment. We don’t need that fool, get rid of him. At least suspend him the rest of the year and try to dump him for a bad contract in the off-season if you aren’t going to just cut him now.
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Post by keystone61 on Aug 20, 2022 8:33:37 GMT -5
He's a lazy, stupid person. He's lazy because after getting his second chance, he obviously did nothing to improve his game after playing terribly. He's stupid because he didn't have enough sense to walk away from a fight with his wife last year, nor to call a taxi in this incident. And yet, he'll cash checks for over $40 million dollars between now and the end of 2024 in spite of that. It's sickening to me. Sickening.
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Post by wncbravesfan on Aug 20, 2022 12:27:28 GMT -5
Ken Rosenthal just said he expects the Braves to release Marcell Ozuna after the legal process plays out.
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Post by wncbravesfan on Aug 20, 2022 12:53:36 GMT -5
Grant McAuley @grantmcauley 25m Once the legal process plays out, @ken_Rosenthal said he expects the #Braves to release Marcell Ozuna following his DUI arrest.
Ozuna is owed $41 million through 2024 and has batted .214 with 27 HR, a .653 OPS and -1.4 WAR since the start of 2021 (155 G).
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 20, 2022 13:31:00 GMT -5
Ken Rosenthal just said he expects the Braves to release Marcell Ozuna after the legal process plays out. Great. We should suspend him with pay in the meantime.
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Post by dirt on Aug 20, 2022 13:54:52 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that. He used the word embarrassment. I said the same thing last night. When I saw that bastard standing in the dugout wearing our uniform last night it was the first time I’ve ever felt embarrassed by our team. You’re welcome, I would have liked to see what Schultz wrote that they edited out, lol.
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 20, 2022 14:30:29 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that. He used the word embarrassment. I said the same thing last night. When I saw that bastard standing in the dugout wearing our uniform last night it was the first time I’ve ever felt embarrassed by our team. You’re welcome, I would have liked to see what Schultz wrote that they edited out, lol. Ya rly!
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Post by braves247 on Aug 20, 2022 14:48:59 GMT -5
he should a never ever been in braves uniform after he choked and beat his wife that was pitiful
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 20, 2022 15:47:05 GMT -5
he should a never ever been in braves uniform after he choked and beat his wife that was pitiful 100% agree. I saw the video where he had his hand on her throat. End of story. It’s a complicated story, and I don’t care, a man should never do that.
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 21, 2022 3:25:59 GMT -5
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Post by Hart's Middle Finger on Aug 22, 2022 17:01:39 GMT -5
"Ozuna from the Braves" were what beater said to the cops.
Good on Ben Ingram for trolling that assclown
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Post by Fumbduckery on Aug 22, 2022 18:07:56 GMT -5
"Ozuna from the Braves" were what beater said to the cops. Good on Ben Ingram for trolling that assclown When he handed the cop his drivers license he also handed him his MLB ID card.
It's that kind of crap that irritates me even more when you let these fuggers get away with stuff, like the wife beating, because then they always expect to get away with everything and never change their behaviors. Witnessed by him constantly saying "come on man" to the cop. For all we know he's been pulled over a dozen times and got off every single time. It's so wrong.
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