Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ozuna’s trade to St. Louis finalized
‘This was a way for us to maximize on our return’
LAKE BUENA VISTA — The Marlins arrived at the winter meetings with the best outfield in baseball and a goal of moving some of their best players for financial relief and prospects.
They left with almost no major league outfield but having largely accomplished their goal.
Miami finalized its trade of All-Star left fielder Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals on Thursday. St. Louis gave the Marlins four prospects: right-handed pitcher Sandy Alcantara, outfielder Magneuris Sierra, righthander Zac Gallen and left-hander Daniel Castano.
“As we started our offseason, the goal is a consistent one: We need to improve our overall talent, improve our depth,” President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill said. “We just felt like this was a way for us to maximize on our return as we look to build this organization and add tremendous talent in doing so.
“There’s no question that Marcell Ozuna is a tremendous talent. I think you look at the return we were able to get for him, you see how talented he was.”
The 22-year-old Alcantara, with a mid- to upper-90s fastball, and 21-year-old Sierra, with speed and a strong arm in center, are the headliners. They both reached the majors in 2017 and will compete for starting jobs in spring training.
They also both joined the 40-man roster, which is full. To make room in addition to subtracting Ozuna, the Marlins designated lefty reliever Hunter Cervenka for assignment.
Ozuna joins second baseman Dee Gordon (traded to Seattle last week) and right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (introduced as a Yankee on Monday) as Miami stars shipped out this month as the team begins its rebuild under CEO Derek Jeter.
It’s not clear whether the Marlins will add to that list. Plenty of teams are interested in Christian Yelich, but because he’s under contract for at least four more years (plus a team option on a fifth year) at a reasonable cost, the Marlins are in no hurry to move him.
For the same reason, the Marlins could charge a premium prospect price for their center fielder.
“As we look to build, if you have good young players already in place that are completely controllable, I think that factors into your building process,” Hill said.
Regarding Yelich specifically, Hill said, “I’m extremely excited that he’s a part of our organization. … I have not spoken to him recently. When we spoke earlier, we talked about how his offseason was going. I probably will talk to him around the holidays to wish him happy holidays, see how he’s doing.”
The Marlins are reportedly targeting a 2018 payroll in the neighborhood of $90 million. With the Ozuna commitment (expected to be around $11 million via arbitration) off the books, the Marlins have a projected total of $97 million — with no other trades and no major league free-agent signings.
Second baseman Starlin Castro ($11 million) and Yelich ($7 million), plus relievers Brad Ziegler ($9 million) and Junichi Tazawa ($7 million), are other pieces the Marlins could look to trade to further lower their financial obligations for next season.
“There’s still offseason left,” Hill said, “and we aren’t finished exploring ways to make this club better.”
For now, though, the Marlins will take a breather. The winter meetings, particularly busy for Hill & Co. this year, are often filled with long days and little sleep.
“We’re going to take a step back, reassess where everything is, what we were able to accomplish here at the winter meetings and continue on and prepare for spring training,” Hill said.
“The big goal was we had to address the Stanton situation. … Beyond that, I think we looked at our assets, our inventory and looked at ways — within the context of our build — to get value for our players and make smart decisions and add depth to our system. We’re on our way toward hopefully making that happen.”