7 Teams Reportedly Interested in Free Agent Marcell Ozuna
By Parker White
In his two years in St. Louis, outfielder Marcell Ozuna hasn't busted out offensively like everyone thought he would when the team acquired him from the Miami Marlins.
However, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Ozuna isn't going to accept the $17.8 million qualifying offer and, on top of that, at least seven teams, including the Cardinals, are interested in him.
Marcell Ozuna has a nice market — about 7 teams already with the #StLCards still talking about a possible multiyear with him — and so Ozuna will not accept the $17.8M qualifying offer.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 12, 2019
The 29-year-old is coming off a season where he slashed .241/.328/.472 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI. Ozuna certainly has the power teams want to stick in the middle of their lineup, but with those numbers, you would've thought he might take the QO from St. Louis.
It remains to be seen if Ozuna can fetch that kind of average annual value, but the only way he would reject the qualifying offer is if a multi-year deal is around the corner, which seems to be the case with that many teams inquiring about his services.
Marcell Ozuna: Won't take qualifying offer - https://t.co/XZxyFBR2Af
— RotoWire⚾ (@RotoWireMLB) November 12, 2019
Ozuna isn't a high-end defender, but he's a player who has shown over the course of his career that he can hit plenty of long balls and provide pop in the heart of the order.