Welp, the Cardinals have made a major addition:
Ozuna to Cardinals is done
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 13, 2017
Source: Marcel Ozuna has been traded to the Cardinals. The deal is pending a physical.
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 13, 2017
After a near month of trade talks between the Cardinals and Marlins about Giancarlo Stanton, it’s another excellent 27-year-old outfield going to St. Louis. The rumors had been building in the last two days, so we kinda saw this coming.
We will fill this out more when the details become available, but the short version is: gulp. Ozuna was a near 5-win player last year, and his presence will not only boost the middle of the Cardinals’ order (he hit .312/.376/.548), but he might improve the overall defense in the outfield by sliding Dexter Fowler to a corner spot. And with Tommy Pham in the other outfield spot, there’s a whooooole lot of offensive potential in that outfield.
Ozuna is arbitration eligible this year, and could make close to $11 million. He’s got one more year of arbitration after that before hitting free agency in 2020.
Consider the Cardinals’ playoff hopes in 2018 (and 2019) boosted.
UPDATE: If the Cardinals landed Ozuna for only Sandy Alcantara (a good, but not elite, pitching prospect) and Randal Grichuk, I’ll be quite displeased:
Trying to confirm who but heard package #Marlins were seeking for Ozuna included SP and OF with control, but MLB experience plus a pitching prospect. #stlcards
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 13, 2017
UPDATE 2: At a minimum, Alcantara is indeed in the deal:
sandy alcantara is the one marlins wanted all along. had been in stanton proposed deal, now comes to miami in ozuna deal.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 13, 2017
UPDATE 3: Derrick Goold reports that the deal was expected to be centered on a pitching prospect, with an outfielder also going to the Marlins. Again I say: if the Cardinals got Ozuna for just Alcantara and Grichuk, I will be quite unhappy. Stephen Piscotty, by the way, is on the verge of being dealt to the A’s.
UPDATE 4: No outfielder, just prospects:
Alcantara is big piece going to #Marlins in 4-player package, hear other 3 are minor leaguers of less ilk #Stlcards
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 13, 2017
UPDATE 5 (MICHAEL): Perhaps Alcantara isn’t the main piece, after all:
Hearing that the OF coming back back to Marlins in the Ozuna deal is Magneuris Sierra, team's No. 6 prospect.
— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) December 13, 2017
According to MLB Pipeline, Magneuris Sierra is the Cardinals’ 6th best prospect, though he’s not quite a top 100 type, either. With that said, this 21-year-old made his Major League debut last season, and hit .317/.359/.317 in a short 22-game stint.
UPDATE 6 (MICHAEL AGAIN (hi)): The last two prospects in the deal are revealed …
Source: In addition to Alcantara and Sierra, other two prospects Marlins receiving in Ozuna deal are rhp Zac Gallen and lhp Daniel Castano.
— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) December 13, 2017
Neither Gallen (13th by MLB Pipeline) nor Castano (not ranked) are very notable prospects, which really makes this return feel light. Sigh. The Cardinals seem to do this every time they make a trade. I’m not sure why I’m surprised anymore.