The St. Louis Cardinals were very clear from about June of last season what their plans were going to be in regards to their then-left fielder, Marcell Ozuna. Even when Ozuna repeatedly said that he wanted to stay in St. Louis, the Cardinals refused to comment.
When the offseason came, the Cardinals extended the left fielder the $17.8M qualifying offer, and while they were reportedly in talks with Ozuna about a multiyear deal, nothing materialized and the Cardinals stuck to their guns and didn’t formally offer Ozuna anything more than the qualifying offer.
Ozuna then decided to bet on himself and sign a one-year, $18M deal with the Atlanta Braves after reportedly turning down three years and $60M from the NL Central rival Cincinnati Reds.