Marlins trade Marcell Ozuna to Cardinals

Marcell Ozuna is headed to St. Louis after a breakout season with the Marlins.

The Cardinals have acquired outfielder Marcell Ozuna from the Marlins. SiriusXM’s Craig Mish first reported the news on Wednesday. The deal is pending a physical. Cardinals pitching prospect Sandy Alcantara is going to Miami as part of the deal, per Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman reports that three other minor-leaguers will be heading to Miami, though those players’ names have not yet been divulged.

Ozuna, 27, had a spectacular 2017 season, posting a .312/.376/.548 slash line with 37 home runs and 124 RBI in 679 plate appearances. After playing primarily in center field for his first three full major-league seasons, Ozuna moved to left field in 2017 and saw his defensive metrics improve immensely, as he recorded an 11 defensive runs saved, a total that ranked first among NL left fielders. He made his second straight All-Star team and won his first Silver Slugger and Gold Glove.

Because he’s been somewhat inconsistent offensively and never reached the 30 home run mark before 2017, there’s skepticism about whether Ozuna will be somewhat of a one-year wonder, but the Cardinals obviously have faith that he can continue to approach that level of productivity and combine with Dexter Fowler and Tommy Pham to form one of the best outfield trios in the National League.

Ozuna should provide a major boost to the Cardinals’ lineup, as his home run and RBI totals significantly exceed those of the Cardinals’ 2017 leaders (Paul DeJong with 25 homers and Yadier Molina with 82 RBI).

With the Marlins now having traded both Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton, they’ve got a gaping hole in their outfield, with only Christian Yelich remaining from last year’s starting group. That shouldn’t make much of a difference, however, for a Miami club that intends to tear down completely and engage in a long-term rebuild.