Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna was one of 10 players to receive a qualifying offer before the deadline Monday. Should he turn it down, Ozuna will reach free agency with draft-pick compensation hanging over his head. But if Ozuna accepts, he’d return to the Cardinals in 2020 on a $17.8MM price tag. As of now, though, there’s at least some chance of a multiyear contract between the Cardinals and Ozuna that would negate the qualifying offer. The club has recently talked with Ozuna’s agent, Melvin Roman of MDR Sports Management, and will meet again with him in the next 10 days to explore a new contract, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Ozuna has until Nov. 14 to take or reject the QO.
This is the first reported instance of the Cardinals showing serious interest in re-signing Ozuna, undoubtedly one of the premier unsigned position players in baseball. The soon-to-be 29-year-old Ozuna has made it known on multiple occasions he’d like to stay in St. Louis, where he has played since the Cardinals acquired him from the Marlins entering the 2018 campaign.
Ozuna was coming off a tremendous season when the Cardinals traded for him, though he has been more good than exemplary since then. He’s now on the heels of a 2.8-fWAR campaign in which he hit .243/.330/.474 with 29 home runs and a personal-best 12 stolen bases in 549 plate appearances. Ozuna’s production led to a 110 wRC+, meaning he was 10 percent better than the league-average offensive player. That’s obviously closer to solid than stellar, but the longtime Statcast darling did continue to thrive in that regard this season. Ozuna’s expected weighted on-base average (.382) blew past his real wOBA (.336) and ranked in the top 8 percent of baseball. His hard-hit rate (49.2 percent) was even better, defeating all but 4 percent of hitters.
Ozuna’s reps are likely to push his Statcast excellence when trying to secure a new deal for their client. And MLBTR expects Ozuna to do fairly well on the market despite a QO, as his projection (three years, $45MM) ranks as our 11th-highest guarantee among free agents and falls behind just one other corner outfielder (Nicholas Castellanos) in a market rife with flawed options. Whether the Cardinals would dole out that type of money over a multiyear period is up in the air, but by extending a QO, they’ve already shown a willingness to keep Ozuna around at a pricey figure for at least another season. For now, with Ozuna’s status in limbo, the reigning National League Central champions count Dexter Fowler, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, Tommy Edman, Jose Martinez, Lane Thomas, Yairo Munoz, Randy Arozarena and coveted prospect Dylan Carlson among their outfield options who remain under control.
Is there really two Tommy Edman’s or is that a typo ?
Nothing better to do huh?
There is only one. By the way Ozuna should be signed by another team. Probably, the White Sox should sign him to multi years. The Cards should sign a starting pitcher and an outfielder possibly Corey Dickerson, Alex Gordon or trade for an outfielder because Dylan Carlson will soon be ready for the majors. He will be ready either 2020 or 2021.
lol. are you serious? alex gordan is washed up. we were in the rumblings a few years ago to sign him and im glad we didnt. dickerson doesnt sound like a prime option either. Maybe if your the mets you look at those options for the bench. outfielders or not.
*are and *Edmans
This needs to happen…4 to 5 yrs at 90 to 130…too many times this team has “thought” they had the next big thing…OF, just like SP, isn’t as stacked as the team makes it seem…
I think the 3/$45MM deal is a better one for a 110 RC+.
In a normal free agent market I’d split the different and go 4/70 for him.
Not sure I’d want him playing in the outfield that long. He looks like he has trouble moving some days.
He sure didn’t look like he had any problems on the bases.
That doesn’t change the fact that he’s a terrible defender at arguably the easiest position on the field.
How did he ever win a Gold Glove?
He will be worse defender as he gets older and he a negative defender already.
Dont know how he won a gold glove in center field in Miami not a single error
Please for the love of God no!. He’s a 2.5-3 WAR max player going forward with his increasingly terrible defense. He’s not even that great from a counting stat standpoint. 2017 was an outlier, plain and simple. If you want to improve with fewer years and an actual improvement at a position of need, then give Donaldson a call. He’s also a much better hitter than Ozuna. They need to make a play for Mookie.
Like the power when he is hitting but defense is atrocious. How he ever won a Gold Glove is beyond me. Him Fowler and Carp all need to be gone. Some of the worst signings.
He used to have a howitzer prior to the shoulder issues. His foot speed is still above average, so I think that’s allowed him to maintain a little defensive value according to most metrics, but reality is setting in when he can barely hit the cutoff man. He was worth trading for, but definitely not worth a long term investment. They need to clear out Fowler too and either let the kids play and/or make a play for Mookie.
I’d be okay with this IF we could somehow unload Fowler.
Ivan Herrera and Fowler to the Marlins for Jose Urena. Whatcha say?
Ivan Herrera is gonna be a stud, they would have to take cecil too lol. I was surprised that arenas stats really arent that great. I thought he was some young stud. Still think he would be a nice option to have next year though
Marlins would gladly do Cecil, Fowler, and Herrera for Urena (maybe throw in a guy like Jarlin Garcia if need be as well)… Marlins only have roughly $40 million committed to the payroll next season and no need for Urena, who has the ability to be a solid No 5 able to soak up innings. I personally think Urena could do well in a Yusmero Petit sort of role too, a multi inning stud out the bullpen.
Marlins would say no way unless you pay most of there salary and then I still dought it. Marlin’s won’t spend any money let alone take on bad contracts for no reason.
And carpenter somehow but ozuna was entertaining when he climbed the wall and did a faceplant onto the warning track
Probably not going to happen but I hope he accepts the qualifying offer. Give one more year for Carlson and others to prove themselves and get better.
Accepting the QO would be the best case for STL.
I’d love it too but don’t see it. I’m not against more than a year for the guy I just don’t think he’s a guy you go crazy on. He wants to stay he’s made that clear and if he’s willing to be reasonable in demands I’m for it. If he wants a deal like a JDM maybe I’d have to pass. He could be worth that depending on how he progresses(by age he should have good years coming). But I just don’t know that you can count on upper tier production or not
Seeing as Ozuna is projected by this very sight to get 3-45. My guess is he won’t get a 90-130 like jtrouble wants to hand out.
I don’t quite buy it unless they jettison a couple OF’ers from the current roster.
I was hoping we had seen the last of him. Might as well extend Fowler and Carpenter for no good reason while we’re at it.
How about they go sign kole calhoun? Same production with a much better glove.
Agree
I was thinking the same thing. Plus Kole is a LH hitter. However, hes 3 years older, but as stated, way better defense and prob less years (contract).
Judging a player’s value on not real OBA but “expected” OBA is evidence to me that stat geeks have gone too far. This invented “stat” is meaningless … it’s like saying Connor’s MLBTR column is great – it had good length, lotsa syllables and apostrophes, many big words … so its expected value was very high, never mind the fact that it was a load of manure!
Well said!
Why sign Ozuna when they can get a guy like Dickerson, or Avasail Garcia for much cheaper? Ozuna doesn’t deserve more than 3-4 years at 20 million annually.
They can’t get rid of Carpenter. He runs the team along with Molina & Wainright.
So true. This franchise will never win another title until Carpenter, Molina, Wainwright and Mozeliak are gone. You can add Wong and Ozuna to that list. This team needs a complete make over. Just get rid of the old, over hyped crap and start going young where they can. That youth makeover shouldn’t include Bader either. I already know a new President of Baseball Ops would include a new GM and manager, so there’s my Christmas list.
Lol Wong coming off a 3.7 WAR, gold glove season making 10 million next year. Waino was a solid #4 this year with a league average ERA over 171 IP for about 8 million bucks. Seems an odd bone to pick on both of them, as they returned massive surplus value on an NLCS bound team. You’ll get no argument from me about bringing back Ozuna and even less about still allowing Molina to start 98% of games at 37. He should also be down at 7th in the lineup, because he’s no longer an asset on offense. That was a really stupid and needless extension when he got it, in addition to the Marp one, but Waino and Wong were major contributors to a winning team. You’re off base there.
I was looking at the whole season. You can’t hold what a player does for one month.
I totally agree
The Cardinals need to get a 3/$45 done with him. With the Bear ya get . 240 25-30 homers. The a prospest , who really knows?
How about a Fowler plus cecil bad contract and tyler oneill swap for myers and yates. I think about 42 mil due between Fowler and cecil, 62 for myers. That would get rid of 2 outfielders with only bringing in one plus a reliever. They could let arozarena, lane and bader battle it out for center. Maybe trade carlos martinez, jose martinez and adolis Garcia for mazara for the other outfield spot. Then dont resign ozuna, hes terrible in the field.
68.5 for Myers not 62.
Thanks for the specifics, I thought I heard 62 on the radio but those guys talk out of their butts sometimes
Speaking of terrible, let’s take a look at Mazara. He would be a horrendous trade target
Everybody has their opinion, and I think mazara needs a change of scenery and is due to break out. Honestly his numbers are the same or better than fowlers
Except the Padres don’t look at Yates as a bad contract! The Padres are not going to give up Yates fornyour bad contracts and a position player they already have a surplus of.
They would be shedding 26 mil in payroll and receive a young outfielder back. Yates is probably not worth 26 mil and tyler oneill. Just saying. To get rid of myers they are going to have to add some prospects, add a major league piece or eat money, and probably take on a bad contract.
I would definitely say he’s a solid option at 3/$45M but will he sign for that and forgo FA? We shall see. But I do think he’s better than he was last year but maybe not quite as good as he was in his final season in MIA. So going forward I’d say the Cards (or whomever signs him) would be expecting something along the lines of .275-.285 BA, .350+ OBP and 25-32 HRs… definitely not a bad player to have around at an AAV of $15M
I mightve been a little high in my OBP predictions… other than his last season in MIA looks like he’ll be closer to .330-.335 than the .350+ I said before… still though pretty solid player with good pop and all around offensive talent.
I hope Ozuna’s asking price is above their comfort level. His defense is too much of a liability.
Let us hope they have his wall debacle playing on repeat when negotiating….do not over pay for anymore older players (carp/fowler) should be examples 1 & 2. SP should be at the forefront this offseason.
If the Cardinals were interested in keeping Ozuna around all along it makes the front office decision not to trade for pitching last July even more puzzling.
You can never have too many outfielders!…………..hang on, it’s you can never have too many pitchers!
If Gorman is all the hype then I say let make a play for Donaldson on a 2 year deal. Of course we would have to move Carp to do that! If they dont believe Gorman will develop than they should make a play for Rendon. Cole or Stratsburg would be nice too.
Man i hope this doesn’t materialize. The guy was lost for long stretches at the plate last year. When he was hot, he was hot. But when he started getting off balance, he was atrocious.
Eventually you either have to believe in your farm system or don’t. I’m not saying Marcell isn’t a good player. But there are guys in the wings that could equal or surpass him, so why are we fiddling around signing another outfielder from the team that couldn’t hit?
Two words why. MO. RON.
Cardinals fans, quick question for you all.
How about a 2/3 year pact with Kole Calhoun? Hes an elite defense fielder and he’ll probably be cheaper than Marcell Ozuna…. there’s no real difference power and he’s another lefty for the lineup. Thoughts?
Team needs to get younger, not older.
Batting order for 2020:
Edman
Lindor
Goldschmidt
Rendon
Ozuna
Molina
Fowler
Bader
Starting pitchers:
Flahnery
Bumgarner
Hudson
Mikalas
Wainwright
How are you getting Francisco Lindor? I am curious?
I’d love to see a healthy Ozuna and Goldy together.
I’m ok with a 3yr 45 million dollar deal. When you get in the 4-5+yr deals I get nervous but I see Ozuna earning that deal and if he doesn’t I see him coming close. It won’t be a Cecil or Fowler type situation