With spring training just weeks away, Marcell Ozuna’s free agency could soon be coming to a head. Ozuna is coming off a marvelous season that saw him pace the National League in RBI (56) while also setting career marks in both batting average (.338) and OPS (1.067). A two-time All-Star and one-time Gold Glove recipient, Ozuna has drawn free-agent interest from the Brewers, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox, Twins and Yankees, among others.
Despite Ozuna’s stellar play for Atlanta in 2020, the Dominican Republic native is seen as a defensive liability in the outfield. That perceived shortcoming has no doubt limited Ozuna’s market with many teams waiting for a decision on whether MLB will adopt a universal DH. Though labor negotiations remain fluid, for the moment, it appears the National League will not have a designated hitter this upcoming season with the players union rejecting MLB’s latest proposal, which had called for both a universal DH and expanded playoffs.
Nelson Cruz, who had also been waiting for clarity on the designated hitter front, returned to the Minnesota Twins by agreeing to a one-year, $13-million contract late Tuesday night. With teams skeptical of his outfield qualifications and the NL looking less and less likely to adopt a DH this year, Ozuna may be tempted to follow suit by narrowing his free-agent scope to teams in the American League. With the 30-year-old seemingly confined to the AL, a surprise suitor has emerged with the Tampa Bay Rays joining in the ongoing Ozuna Sweepstakes, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
This isn’t Tampa’s usual MO as the small-market Rays have never been one to spend frivolously, preferring to develop homegrown talent while leaving big-ticket free agents to deeper-pocketed clubs like the Red Sox and Yankees. Ozuna would represent a rather jarring departure in that regard, though perhaps the Rays, coming off last year’s AL pennant, are willing to accommodate the free-agent slugger on a lucrative short-term deal.
Even so, it would be a head-scratcher to see the Rays ante up for Ozuna in the wake of some of their recent cost-cutting measures including trading Cy Young winner Blake Snell and declining to exercise Charlie Morton’s team option. Ozuna could very well be using Tampa as leverage in hopes of accelerating his free agency, though maybe the ever-resourceful Rays suspect they can get him on the cheap.
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