Ozuna Optioned

[lou]

Why would they DFA Cishek now if they haven't already? He'll be non-tendered this offseason, which is different than being DFA'd.

Thats what I meant.

Get something for him now before you get nothing.

No one is trading for him in the offseason when he'll be arbitration eligible. He's not a $7+ million player.

[lou]

Agent Scott Boras said the Marlins --- who are struggling to score runs --- are leaving outfielder Marcell Ozuna at Triple A New Orleans to potentially delay his arbitration eligibility and that Marlins players are upset about it and this “is not what Marlins fans deserve.”

The Marlins deny the decision is financially-driven.

Ozuna, who is hitting .353 with four homers and nine RBI in 18 games at New Orleans, would be eligible for arbitration for the first time after this season, instead of after next season, only if the Marlins bring him back to the big leagues shortly.

WINZ’s Andy Slater has reported the cut-off date as Aug. 8, but Boras said the date “is volatile. We’re in that area now where it’s a question.” Arbitration eligibility is based on service time.

“The manager needs a middle of the order bat, the same bat they had for two years that was highly productive and they are restraining him in the minor leagues due to a service time issue,” Boras said.

“Ozuna is a proven major leaguer, certainly deserving of being in the majors with the Marlins. I don’t think anyone would look at the talent with the Marlins and suggest he’s not one of the top 25 players in that organization.

“Major league players on the club are very upset about this issue," Boras said. "They’ve approached the manager on several occasions. The organization is not applying its best talent to try to win. [Manager] Dan Jennings has told players on the team he wants him hitting No. 4 in the lineup.”

Boras, who also represents Marlins star Jose Fernandez, said he has attempted to call Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria “on numerous occasions” to discuss it and "have yet to hear back from him."

Boras added: “Every major league player wants a team to make the best efforts toward winning. When you lose games 1-0, I get a lot of phones calls from players on the team.”

Boras said when Ozuna was demoted July 5, Marlins president/baseball operations Michael Hill told him “he was going to get sent [down] for a short period to get his rhythm back. This has gone well beyond that."

The Marlins’ decision affects only whether he will be arbitration-eligible three years or four years, Boras said. Regardless of what the Marlins do, Ozuna will be eligible for free agency after 2019.

“This is not what Marlins fans deserve. Fans deserve the best team,” Boras said. “The integrity of the game deserves the best players playing in the big leagues. And it’s not prudent to provide winning baseball at the Major League level when your best talent is being restrained in the minor leagues.

Boras pointed out that when Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich --- who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract in March --- “hit .160 for his first 100 at bats, like most major league players who are established, they let him work through it. They sent Marcell down when he was hitting [.249] and lifetime average of [.263]. That’s something many clubs don’t do.... [Pirates left fielder] Starling Marte hit .170 in 70 at bats and they let him work through that."

Jennings said Tuesday the Marlins have reviewed video of Ozuna and are sending club personnel to New Orleans to evaluate him.

Boras doesn’t understand why that’s necessary. “The Triple A manager files a report,” Boras said. “You do not need to send scouts and other personnel to scout your own Triple A team. The Triple A manager is more than enough to indicate the player is back on track and he was so two weeks ago. To suggest there is not a direct dialogue between coaches and the Triple A staff and that it requires intervening scouting, is not how it’s done in baseball."

In comments that I heard after speaking to Boras, Hill told WINZ’s Slater today that the decision to leave Ozuna in the minors is “not a service oriented” decision. “It’s about him being the hitter we know we can be.”

Hill said Ozuna “is definitely making positive strides. We’re watching video every day. The thing we told him when he went down is when he comes back, we don’t ever want to send him down again.
There were adjustments that needed to be made mechanically with his swing.

"He’s making tremendous progress. I’ll be hopeful we’ll see him soon. I don’t think he’s quite where he needs to be in order for us to know as well as you can know if he’s ready to be back at this stage.”

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sport...-roster-m.html

Grievance has to be coming

[tjfla]

I can't wait until they trade Ozuna and Boras just rips into Loria and the FO. Hope it opens alot of eyes on ESPN and all.(It won't because they ignore the Fish)

[NoNames7225]

You should let everyone know on your twitter account, tj.

[thatnewguy]

This has been a bad week.

[marlinsfan24]

Fixed.

This has been a bad past 12 seasons.

[Jay]

Boras is as big of a scumbag as Loria. And Ozuna had over 300 abs in order to hit for some power yet he didn't and hes batting under .250

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Fixed.

Only the seasons cause some offseasons were fun

[Madman81]

Boras is as big of a scumbag as Loria. And Ozuna had over 300 abs in order to hit for some power yet he didn't and hes batting under .250

- - - - - - - - - -



Only the seasons cause some offseasons were fun

cmon. there's no question that ozuna is still down there solely to try to delay his arb clock.

[Bobbob1313]

Why is Boras a scumbag?

[Madman81]

because he zealously represents his clients in an attempt to get them what they desire.

man, what a dick.

[Jay]

All agents are scumbags. He's just the biggest which is why he's so effective.

But he doesn't act in the best interest of his client. He acts in the best interest of his finances.

[HUGG]

Boras is a great agent. And I don't believe 90% of the shit he says.

[Madman81]

All agents are scumbags. He's just the biggest which is why he's so effective.

But he doesn't act in the best interest of his client. He acts in the best interest of his finances.

these interests are closely aligned. how are they mutually exclusive?

[thatnewguy]

It's not like he's pushing players to certain teams because he has a relationship with them, a la DeAndre Jordan's agent.

[Jay]

these interests are closely aligned. how are they mutually exclusive?

Boras will utilize other clients to better position the top client at times. He also will advise clients to not take buyout deals most of the time when it's an important safety net for a lot of these players. Do you think Ozuna has decent job prospects outside of baseball or understands the risk of taking his contract to arbitration every year? No his agent needs to explain that even if it is preventing his own bigger payday