Miami Marlins’ Marcell Ozuna Traded To St. Louis Cardinals
The MLB trades continue for the Miami Marlins, as the team has a pending deal in place to trade Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals for several players. The latest news arrives just after Miami’s biggest star, slugger Giancarlo Stanton, was sent to the New York Yankees late last week. Now, Ozuna will join a National League contender as Miami has traded another outfielder away in preparation for rebuilding their roster. Here are all of the latest details on the big MLB trade that is expected to go through if there are no snags in the deal.
The trade was reported on Wednesday afternoon from MLB.com‘s Jesse Sanchez, who noted the deal was in place pending a physical. Multiple sources were said to have reported this rumored deal, with ESPN indicating that the St. Louis Cardinals were going to send the Miami Marlins pitching prospect Sandy Alcantara, outfielder Magneuris Sierra, right-hander Zac Gallen, and lefty Daniel Castano in the trade for Marcell Ozuna. If the deal goes through, then the Cardinals will bring the talented outfielder to their roster and have him under team control through the 2019 MLB season. It will also help the Marlins with their rebuilding process under new management.
By landing Marcell Ozuna for their roster, the Cardinals get a two-time All-Star who hit .312 last season to go with 37 home runs and 124 RBIs. His RBI total ranked him third in the National League, with teammate Giancarlo Stanton ranking first. Those were also career-high numbers for Ozuna who participated in 159 of the Marlins’ games last season. For his five-year MLB career thus far, the 27-year-old Ozuna has hit .277 with 96 home runs and 361 RBIs.
The St. Louis Cardinals were closing in on a possible National League Wild Card spot in this past MLB postseason, but they missed out on it by four games. They were also outdone by division rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, in that playoff hunt. Adding Ozuna’s bat to their team could certainly boost their chances at a run in the 2018 MLB season. St. Louis was already ranked seventh in the National League for batting last season, so adding Ozuna to their lineup further strengthens that power.
The @Cardinals slogan for the #WinterMeetings?
If at first you don’t succeed, go out and get a stud like Marcell Ozuna. pic.twitter.com/pNlei7NKLQ
— MLB (@MLB) December 13, 2017
As mentioned, the Miami Marlins are making all sorts of moves this offseason to clear their roster. They traded Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees just days ago. In addition, they sent Dee Gordon to the Seattle Mariners, further showing that Derek Jeter and company mean business when it comes to rebuilding this team from the ground up.
