MLB Rumors: Francisco Lindor, Marcell Ozuna could head to New York this offseason

Francisco Lindor and Marcell Ozuna have some things in common, starting with the fact that they could play for a different team in the upcoming MLB season. The pair are two of the best sluggers in the Majors and could also go to the same team during the MLB offseason.

Steve Cohen just took over as the New York Mets’ owner and he’ll like to have big names to draw attention to the Mets after a couple of years struggling to be really competitive. Two big names that appear to be under the radar of the team are Lindor and Ozuna.

Cohen would surely benefit from landing these two men or at least one of them. They will have Marcus Stroman and Jacob deGrom back and boosting their offense should be a priority for the front office. Fortunately, two men could join them this offseason.

Francisco Lindor, Marcell Ozuna could join the Mets this offseason

The Puerto Rican SS will enter the last year of his current contract with the Cleveland Indians and they don’t seem to be too interested in retaining him. He will be involved in several trade rumors that might include the Mets over the next couple of weeks.

However, club president Sandy Alderson has indirectly revealed that a trade of that magnitude would be too much for the Mets.

“We’ve got no depth at Double-A and Triple-A, so we are doing all we can to sign six-year minor-league free agents to fill out depth with our top two minor-league teams and provide up-and-down depth for the season,” Alderson said, via the New York Post.

The situation with Ozuna, however, is a little different. Ken Davidoff of the Post describes that Ozuna didn’t sign a long-term deal last season with the Atlanta Braves and now he could do so when joining the Mets in what can be a win-win situation for both parties.

“Ozuna bet on himself last winter by foregoing a multi-year pact in favor of a one-year deal. His reasoning was sound — a big season would equal a bigger payday — and at the time he had no way of knowing the league’s economics would go to hell because of a global pandemic. Whatever the monetary value of the contract he signs is, Ozuna should take heart in knowing that he held up his end of the equation. He hit .338/.431/.636 with 18 home runs in 60 games. No free agent had a higher maximum exit velocity than Ozuna, and only one (Joc Pederson) tied or had a better average exit velocity. It’s fair to wonder if this version of him is here to stay, just as it’s fair to have concerns about his defense and his swing-and-miss tendencies. At the same time, he’s consistently been an above-average hitter throughout his career, and most long-term contracts signed this winter will probably look like relative bargains two or three years down the road.”

The Mets are starting fresh after Steve Cohen bought the franchise a couple of weeks ago. They must have big plans for this new chapter in history and two big names like Lindor and Ozuna may well help their cause.