Miami Marlins return several top prospects for Marcell Ozuna

The Miami Marlins have officially traded away Marcell Ozuna. The St. Louis Cardinals sent a boatload of talent to Miami in return.

The Miami Marlins have only made two trades during this years Winter Meetings. To call them “busy” this offseason would be inaccurate if referring strictly to the volume of trades they’ve made. But contextually, they’ve had more going on than anybody else.

Miami has shipped off two of the best outfielders in baseball in three days. Giancarlo Stanton went to the New York Yankees in a blockbuster deal earlier this week. On Wednesday afternoon, the final full day of the Winter Meetings, Marcell Ozuna went to the Cardinals.

Reports of who the Miami Marlins received in the trade were slow to materialized. We now know the identity of all four prospects the Miami Marlins are returning.

In exchange for Marcell Ozuna, the St. Louis Cardinals will send Sandy Alcantara, Magneuris Sierra Zac Gallen, and Daniel Castano. Alcantara is the headlining name in the deal for the Marlins, though Sierra and Gallen also rank amongst the top prospects in the organization.

Alcantara ranks ninth in the Cardinals system, and can throw the ball in the triple-digits. He manages to maintain his velocity into the upper-90’s deep into starts. Gallen, another right-handed pitcher, ranks 13th in their system overall.

Sierra is a touted out fielding prospect with blazing speed, good base running ability, and good plate vision. Power isn’t his game, but he manages to get on base a lot and is a plus-defender.

Gallen is the only prospect that doesn’t rank in the top 30 in the Cardinals system, though he figures to do so with Miami. He put up very impressive numbers in his first season out of rookie ball. Gallen pitches from the left side, and is only 22 years old.

Reaction to the trade

Unsurprisingly, fans were unhappy with the return for the Miami Marlins. Many expected at least one of the three: Jack Flaherty, Harrison Bader, or Luke Weaver. The Miami Marlins received none of the above, but likely by design.

Flaherty in particular is ready to make the jump to the highest level. That isn’t what the Miami Marlins are looking for right now. Instead, they’re stockpiling talent that they expect to be ready in 2019, with an eye towards seriously competing in 2020 or 2021.

Next: Miami Marlins trade Marcell Ozuna to Cardinals

For all intents and purposes, the Miami Marlins are likely done dealing at the Winter Meetings. More activity will follow once the meetings are out, to be sure, but Ozuna and Stanton were the big items on the “to do” list.