Miami Marlins: Indians Interested in Ozuna

2015 has been a crazy year for Miami Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Coming off of a productive season in 2014, Ozuna’s numbers dropped in both the average and power departments this year. His poor performance lead to a stint in the minors, which has been suspiciously long, as my co-editor Ehsan Kassim wrote about last weekend.

Now that the 2015 MLB Trade Deadline looms just three days away, Marcell Ozuna has entered the trade talks for Miami.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald originally reported that the Marlins weren’t shopping Ozuna, however suggested Miami shows interest in Indians starting pitchers.

So what does this all mean for the Marlins and Ozuna? At first glance, this looks like just another trade candidate for Miami. Ozuna has drawn interest across the league, standing as a ‘comeback’ candidate. If a trade were to be in place sending either Danny Salazar or Carlos Carrasco to the Marlins, Miami’s 2016 rotation would be set up nicely, if Henderson Alvarez returns to full health by opening day.  Let’s check out Marcell Ozuna’s recent numbers:  2014 w/Miami: 565 AB, .269 AVG, 23 HR, 85 RBI 2015 w/Miami: 297 AB, .249 AVG, 4 HR, 26 RBI 2015 w/Triple-A New Orleans: 64 AB, .344 AVG, 4 HR, 8 RBI With Ozuna seemingly regaining his 2014 power stroke in New Orleans, teams have begun to express interest in Miami’s outfielder. He proves to be a fit in Cleveland, who ranks 25th in baseball, 14th in AL, in home runs. Additionally, most of the Indians’ production has come from lefties (Moss, Santana, Brantley, Bourn, Kipnis), so a righty power bat would fit perfectly in that lineup. 

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On Miami’s side, the Marlins show no shortage of right-handed pitching. Even if Latos and Haren are both dealt, the Marlins still use

, Henderson Alvarez (albeit injured),

, and

, who all happen to be righties, in their rotation.  Both Carrasco and Salazar would bring a high strikeout rate to the Marlins’ rotation. Salazar and Carrasco respectively rank third and fourth in the AL in K/9. While Miami’s rotation is heavily populated by righties, it doesn’t hurt to add effective strikeout pitchers like the two they’ve scouted in Cleveland.

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