Looking ahead to free agency this coming offseason, there are definitely much bigger names (hello Anthony Rendon and Gerrit Cole), but two outfielders in the NL Central race right now are both intriguing and confusing, especially with how erratic the market has been these past two offseasons. 

Marcell Ozuna on Monday night launched a two-run homer in the first and then came through with a two-RBI double in the seventh to give the Cardinals the lead for good against the Nationals. He also threw a runner out at home. 

Meantime, in the same division, Cubs right fielder Nicholas Castellanos doubled home a pair to put the game away against the Reds: 

Castellanos now has 55 doubles this season. The last time a player had 60 doubles was 1936. Here's the entire list of 60-double seasons: 

Player

Year

Doubles

Earl Webb

1931

67

Joe Medwick

1936

64

George Burns

1926

64

Hank Greenberg

1934

63

Paul Waner

1932

62

Charlie Gehringer

1936

60

Though there are certainly contrasts here, I can't help but tie these two together. 

The positives are big. I mentioned their best aspects above. Both have power. Both have question marks. Both are heading to free agency. Both likely don't want to return to losing situations. 

Ozuna is hitting .252/.332/.495 (114 OPS+) with 28 homers, 86 RBI and has even added a career high 12 stolen bases. He's good! He also isn't a great defender (negative defensive WAR, one defensive run saved) and appears to have peaked in 2017. He was worth 6.1 WAR then and he's gone to 2.9 last year and 2.2 so far this year. His OPS+ was 149 in 2017 and it was 106 last year before the 114 this year. Teams have stopped paying for past production in free agency, as we've seen these past two years. 

Castellanos has been amazing since going to the Cubs, slashing .339/.368/.689 (163 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 15 homers and 35 RBI in 43 games. He's already been worth more WAR (1.5) to the Cubs than with the Tigers (1.1 in 100 games). He's said on multiple occasions how much he loves playing in front of a packed Wrigley Field and in a pennant race. Perhaps he was just tired of playing on a loser and that's why he wasn't that great with the Tigers (.273/.328/.462 for a 104 OPS+). 

Also, maybe this is just fluky? Castellanos' WAR the previous four seasons: 0.5, 1.5, 0.8, 2.9. He rates out terribly on defense (negative-15 defensive runs saved this season) thanks to getting poor jumps on the ball (he converted to outfield from third base a few years ago). 

On the flip side, he's been the Cubs' heart and soul since the acquisition. Maybe he just needed to play in games that mattered? 

Ozuna similarly went to a contender after playing for the Marlins for the early part of his career. Would you really want to return to a rebuilding team after getting a taste of Busch Stadium or Wrigley Field while contending in September and/or October? 

That's the question either Ozuna or Castellanos might face this coming offseason. 

On Castellanos specifically, it looks like he's having the time of his life, and it makes you wonder if he goes to his agent, Scott Boras, and says he's only signing with contenders or maybe even he wants to stay with the Cubs. Then again, what if he doesn't have a choice? 

The market for bat-first corner outfielders these past few years hasn't been huge. Michael Brantley got two years and $32 million from the Astros (which has been a huge bargain to this point). Marwin Gonzalez got two years and $21 million from the Twins. Andrew McCutchen got three years and $50 million from the Phillies. 

One has to think Ozuna and Castellanos would both be looking at the high end of that group while teams would love to have them at the lower end and might not want to get close to the $50 million range. 

Both Castellanos and Ozuna have looked the part of lineup linchpins at times this season, especially Castellanos since the trade, but their bodies of work suggest they might be disappointed with the offers they get in free agency. It'll be interesting.