8:28pm: The Rangers and Marlins have been discussing Ozuna on and off for about a month, but talks have never advanced very far, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (links to Twitter). Rosenthal notes that the Rangers are still looking to add pitching depth — Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes the same, calling an Ozuna swap unlikely — therefore making it difficult to part with Gonzalez in a deal. While Texas could theoretically sign another starter and then part with Gonzalez in an Ozuna trade, the team lacks the financial flexibility to increase payroll, Rosenthal hears, which would make a notable signing for the rotation improbable.
3:35pm: Talks have indeed involved Gonzalez and “perhaps another piece,” Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweets.
2:02pm: Ozuna’s market is “moving fast,” Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. Miami has spoken with “multiple clubs” about him, including one team located on the West Coast.
The team is “listening” but doesn’t feel compelled to reach a deal, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes, adding that as many as 10 teams expressed interest in Ozuna back at the Winter Meetings in Nashville in early December. If the Marlins deal him away, they would utilize Christian Yelich in center and platoon Derek Dietrich with a right-handed hitter in left, Frisaro reports on Twitter.
1:27pm: The Rangers are holding trade discussions with the Marlins about center fielder Marcell Ozuna, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). But, he adds, Miami is still placing a hefty tag on the youngster and a deal between the sides “may be [a] longshot.”
It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard anything on Ozuna, who was a popular topic of discussion during the Winter Meetings. Last we checked in, it seemed that the Marlins could be more likely than ever to hold onto him, as trade partners were not inclined to meet the steep ask.
The 25-year-old emerged as a major trade topic after numerous reports suggested that he had fallen out of favor with Miami owner Jeffrey Loria. He struggled early last year, but raked in a brief Triple-A stint and bounced back nicely in the second half.
The Fish are said to be looking for a promising young starter in return. It’s not clear what names have come up in talks with Texas, but it’s certainly plausible to imagine players like Nick Martinez and Chi Chi Gonzalez being discussed. Of course, it’s also possible to imagine the involvement of some of the Rangers’ young pen arms — and any number of other assets — if Miami is willing to consider alternatives.
For the Rangers, center field isn’t exactly a strong need. After all, the team enjoyed a surprising campaign from Rule 5 pick Delino DeShields Jr. last year. But he’s hardly a sure thing, the lineup still trends left-handed, and Ozuna would add a youthful, high-upside component to the Texas outfield mix.
Moreland Gonzales and Martinez for ozuna
The Marlins already have Bour, another lefty hitting 1B, so 1 year of Moreland, despite much better defense, isn’t exactly much of a selling point, Nick Martinez is more of a throw in than anything else, and Gonzalez’s showing in the majors last year has raised some question marks for sure.
I’m thinking more along the lines of:
Rangers trade
CF Lewis Brinson
SP Chi Chi Gonzalez
RP Luke Jackson
RP Andrew Faulkner
SP Nick Martinez
Marlins trade
CF Marcell Ozuna
RP Mike Dunn
Cash to offset Dunn’s salary
Is this a Joke? Rangers would not offer Brinson straight up for Ozuna + Dunn
That’s more of a conjecture as to what the Marlins might request, not what the Rangers end up doing, but I don’t see any reason it can’t be done. My reasoning:
Brinson would be blocked in CF if Ozuna is aquired, so offering him for Ozuna would really get trade talks going. The Marlins get their replacement for Ozuna and the Rangers get an immediate solution in CF. Besides, Mazara is better than Brinson, is closer to the majors, is younger, and plays corner outfield, meaning he’d fit on the team even with Ozuna in CF and Choo in RF.
You are going off out dated prospect Rankings Brinson is a 5 tool player who only had 12 fewer games than Mazara at AAA, Brinson’s AFL has actually put him closer to the Majors than Mazara. Brinson will most likely be a top 10 prospect in 2016 when it is fully updated.
Mazara and Brinson both are fantastic young upside players who both spent limited time in AAA last season. In fact it could be argued that the Rangers may be more inclined to keep them than Joey Gallo because they have Beltre already at third base and Ryan Cordell in the minors also. Gallo might not have the defensive ability that Texas wants in the outfield but could fit in at third in Miami. That would allow Prado to float where needed or be traded.
I’m just offering an opinion of what potentially could happen. I definitely don’t think it would be one for one but package for package geared along needs and strengths.
I can assure you of the names Brinson, Gallo, or Mazara are involved in any trade with Miami. The name Fernandez will be involved.
Dude, that would bankrupt the Rangers. I don’t see that happening.
I mean in prospects, not money.
Keep dreaming. Rangers would never do that.
West Coast team, huh? Do the Giants have the prospects to get it done? Or maybe Susac going the other way?
Don’t see an Angels fit, or Mariners. A’s or Padres possibilities.
the angels don’t have any prospects left but they do have like seventeen starting pitchers
Heaney for Ozuna straight up might actually work.
I doubt the Angels would be interested in that. Heaney and Richards are the two pitchers they want to hang on to the most.
Heaney has a-lot more value than Ozuna. There is a reason why all the top pitching free agents all signed ridiculous contracts, and the outfielders are still trying to convince teams they are worth the price they are asking. Young cost controlled pitching with MLB success is more valuable then young cost controlled outfielders. If Heaney was the center piece of this deal, the marlins would be sending prospects to the Angels plus Ozuna.
Ozuna’s value is mostly in his ability to play CF. For obvious reasons, that’s of little interest to the Angels.
I don’t see Angels trading Heaney away unless they still had Newcomb…
Didn’t the Marlins originally trade Heaney to the Dodgers who sent him to the Angels? Can’t see a scenario where they would want him back. If they liked him that much they wouldn’t have traded him in the first place.
How about Shoemaker + Tropeano and a prospect for Ozuna?
Padres does seem like a good fit giving them a young guy who’s major league ready and could be built around as he develops
Why does everyone think Susac is good enough to want in a trade? Also he probably has more value to the Giants as Posey’s backup, seeing as Posey is slowly starting to move over to 1B.
He’s good enough to replace Buster Posey when he moves to 1B, but he’s not good enough to be wanted in a trade?
Because why wouldn’t you want a catcher that has the potential to have power, avg, and defense?
Because teams have been inquiring about Susac for the last two seasons. And then there’s the whole decent average, very good power, and decent defense things to. Aside from that though …
Susac’s easily good enough to start somewhere. But the Giants might see him as their future C with Posey at 1B.
The real question here is why you think Susac isn’t good enough to front a trade.
Chris Heston for Marcell Ozuna, straight up.
I would say that SF and MIA match up pretty well.
I think a package of Susac, Heston, Williamson or Parker and Crick
For
Ozuna and Dunn
This gives MIAMI a starter now, an everyday catcher that can hit, a partner for a corner outfield spot, and a guy with a rocket arm that probably needs a change of scenery. The most important for them is that they save money now AND all 4 guys they get are fully cost controlled.
You’re joking right?
Beede and Susac plus for Ozuna get it done?
I would have to expect more than that for ozuna. Probably arroyo, susac, beede at least, ozuna has a decent amount of value left.
I would be ok with that trade.
You’re a Dodgers or DBacks fan then ?
Arroyo is blocked for the foreseeable future, Susac is a backup who is going to be 26 and who’s value only goes down by sitting on the bench 5 to 6 days a week, not to mention Brown looked like a capable backup in his small sample last year, and Beede fell off a clif when he got to AA. No, I’m a Giants fan who would rather try and capitalize on the primes of Posey, Crawford, Bumgarner, Pence, etc than hope and pray that prospects work out however many years down the road. The window for more World Series championships is wide open, Pagan and Blanco are free agents next year and Blanco will actually one of the better FA outfielders on the market. That tells you you better get something done this offseason.
But theoretically we shouldn’t even be having this conversation because Gary Brown was supposed to be a 5 WAR center fielder by now and Kyle Crick was supposed to be a number two SP. If all prospects worked out nobody would ever need to make a trade.
Let me clarify. I agree with your premise wholeheartedly. The Giants have a window to maximize the talent of the core players that they have build their roster aground. And I’m not about hoarding prospects either because, well, they’re exactly that … prospective talent. I just want to keep in mind that we’re talking about a trade for Marcell Ozuna here. A nice piece to have on your roster but not the game changer that he’s being made out to be.
Good point. I just get greedy when I see the championship window wide open, and I don’t really want to give up a pick for Fowler. Ozuna could very well be a one year wonder though. Gotta love the offseason.
Top 3 prospects in the system? No thanks. We could just sign Fowler.
Beede, Bickford and either Fox or Arroyo get it done. Ozuna has tons of trade value still.
I like Ozuna, but I’m out if I’m the Giants at that price. I wonder if a third team gets involved like the Nats who are desperately looking for catching help to make a three way deal.
Agreed. Ship Susac to someone who needs a catcher and maybe add other pieces in a 3-team deal.
Trade #1
Susac + pieces to WAS
Joe Ross + pieces from Giants to Miami
Ozuna to Giants
Maybe a pipe dream for a Giants fan, but we can dream
Houston and Seattle could also use an upgrade at catcher and have young pitching. Susac alone may not get those pitchers, but maybe so if the Giants add pieces.
I like Ozuna in CF for the Giants. Solves that problem for 4 years.
The nats aren’t trading Ross especially after letting Zimmerman go and Strasberg likely to leave after next year
@MattyWIl
Great point…..I don’t think the Nats would trade Ross. However, thats probably the kind of trade it would need to be – likely three teams involved.
Oh well……maybe they’ll go for Desmond in LF.
Mariners don’t need a catcher. They have Clevenger and Iannetta platooning and Zunino is in the minors. Zunino isn’t a bust yet, he was rushed far too quickly through the minors (spent about a year total through all three levels) and was expected to be the starting catcher on a fringe contender. Give Zunino some time to figure things out before everyone declares him a bust, the kid is only 24 so there’s still time for improvement.
that is way too much – 1 top prospect + other pieces – not all of the top prospects.
Pass –
Sign Fowler.
Chi Chi sounds like such a Miami name
Hearing marlins want martin perez, which is fair but tough to give up.
I think the Reds and Marlins match up well. The Reds have the young SP depth that the Marlins covet, and the Reds have a need for a good, young OF.
But, this would require the Reds using a modicum of imagination. So that won’t happen.
Three way deal with the Reds sending pitching to the Marlins maybe lorenzen and the Marlins sending ozuna to Texas and Texas sending positions players to the Reds.
Giants may pursue him if he’s a clubhouse fit, This guy is not worth anything near the prospects you’re talking about based on his potential. Give me Parra, or stay in-house with Blanco/Williamson/Parker.
or peruse a trade in division with CO, all 3 OF are available and probably cheaper – Miami doesn’t seem so reliable a trade partner
I like that idea too. Open to any one of them. I expect the Giants to get more out of Pagan in a contract season, so I’m not real worried about a guy who could “shift to center”
Contract season or not, Pagan is made of glass and next years free agent market is a joke. Gregor Blanco might be the best center fielder available next year. They absolutely need to consider a guy who could shift to center.
My hope would be that an acquired left fielder, would free up Blanco/Pagan to handle center this season, then one of the kids, (Parker/Lucius Fox) develop enough to take over in ’17.. just saying, there are options outside the “Oh my god, we need a center fielder now” line of thinking that make some financial sense.
Why is Deshields not considered a sure thing? I mean, no one is anymore, but is he really a bad bet to repeat last year’s performance? 10.8 BB%, 25/33 in SB attempts, and his fairly high .334 BABIP is probably sustainable since his speed allows him to beat out a lot of ground balls. Plus, his defense is likely to improve once he gets more reps in CF, though his arm will probably always be a noodle.
If Jints have any sense, they will be all over this guy. He would solve their CF issues for next 5-7 years. They should gladly deal the young catcher from Sacramento or Duffy for this guy and just hope Miami doesn’t demand more..
How does Ozuna, who has 4 years of team control remaining, solve the Giants’ CF issues for 5-7 years?
Wouldn’t trade Duffy. Just opens one hole to fill another.
Outfield is much easier to replace than 3B.
Duffy stays.
Duffy? LOL that’s a good one!
Duffy would be really stupid to give up – I can see tomlinson though – he shows a ton of promise but is a utility guy right now due to the IF logjam
Ozuna for the Yankees Ivan Nova straight up.
I wish.probably not enough
I don’t know if that’s enough to get the Yankees to part with Nova.
Nova, Gardner
I wonder if the West Coast team is the Padres. It makes perfect sense in a Preller kind of world. They have 2 underperforming CF that are set to earn $23 million in 2016, so adding another CF to the mix fits with his MO.
I could see the Padres getting involved in this as well, as it stands Kimbrel, Benoit and Gyorko were all dumped to move money around to fill the huge hole at shortstop, so I could see them continuing that trend by attaching a big salary to a prospect and bullpen piece. A realistic trade I could see would be something along the lines of:
Marlins receive:
James shields
Travis jankowski
Nick Vincent
Michael gettys
Padres receive:
Marcell ozuna
Mike Dunn
I dobut the Marlins would want to eat the money on shields contract
Yeah I agree with you, the padres would have to either eat some of it or take on a bad contract of theirs which I feel like Dunn is.
It seems as though the Rangers are gaining steam and are close to getting something done but I think Shields would be a nice #2 behind Fernandez.
1. Fernandez
2. Shields
3. Cozart
4. Koehler
5. Phelps/Nicolino
Gives Mattingly another horse to work with and a better chance to compete.
5.
It is doable. The Marlins probably wouldn’t want to take on that Shields contract, though, without the Pads kicking in money, which would be hard for them to do because of the opt out. On the other hand, the Fish do need pitching and shouldn’t they be ‘going for it’ before Stanton’s contract cripples them?
Ozuna for Andrew Susac, Adalberto Mejia, Chris Heston, Chris Stratton, and Kylle Crick
5 for 1? hahahahahaha
you’re right…because that never happens…
I think the Marlins would have to add one more player to that for a deal like that to be done
yeah – they can throw in someone small like fernandez.
Oh yeah that would totally get it done! Genius!
The Giants are not going to give up 3 of their Top 20 prospects, a young catcher that may end up pushing Posey (!) to 1B, and a serviceable 4th SP for Marcell Ozuna coming off a down year.
Buster Posey is going to play where Buster Posey brings the most value to the Giants.
Andrew Susac will have almost no bearing on that decision whatsoever.
Which might be 1B to keep him healthy and preserve him longer. Susac isn’t pushing him for another year or two at the least, but eventually they should consider moving Posey to 1B.
I don’t honestly see a trade happening if it doesn’t involve a third team
Yea it happens for superstars! Not Marcell Ozuna coming off a terrible year!
For a teams that been pretty terrible recently, its amazing how highly the Marlins regard their roster pieces.
That’s insane.
You say the Rangers already have Deshields in center field so it’s not really a big need, but what if the trade involves Deshields. The Marlins are not trading an extra outfielder, they are trading a disgruntled outfielder. I think the trade will shake out like this.
Rangers get
Marcell Ozuna
Marlins get
Chi Chi Gonzalez
Delino Deshields
There might be a throw in prospect or two on one or both sides as well, but that looks like a trade that would help both teams.
Why would the Rangers do that? DeShields might be better than Ozuna himself. At least he was last year. They’d be giving Chi Chi away for nothing.
The Rangers would do that because DeShields would inevitably be displaced by Ozuna obviously. Therefore his value would not be nearly as high. If the Rangers considered DeShields better than Ozuna, then they wouldn’t be looking to acquire the latter.
Yeah, I love Lino but Ozuna is likely better. Maybe DeShields is in the future…maybe…but that’s a big gamble.
I wonder if Profar could be involved in those discussions? Even with the injury issues he is still very young.
Anyone who thinks the Nats would trade Ross for Susac is crazy. Marlins supposedly inquired about Gio Gonzalez earlier in the offseason. Maybe the Nats sign Chen then package Taylor and a decent minor league pitcher (Fedde) and other pieces for Lucroy and then trade Gio for Ozuna. I’d love for them to also sign Upton. But that’ll never happen…
As a died hard Giants fan no Ozuna and Sign Fowler or just stay in house
The Orioles could use a guys like Ozuna has well. Wonder if they are in on him as well.
I hope deShields is not involved.
Solver and Hendricks for Ozuna, Dunn, and Nicolino.
Fish get a reliable starter and a replacement OF while the Cubs won’t have to plug heyward into CF and deepen their pen.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the White Sox might be involved here. They try to keep their business as quiet as possible, and have a definite need for a player like Ozuna.
What about
Ozuna
For
Chi chi
Faulkner and
An outfielder?
I’m not sure what OF Texas could send, Rua? Mazzara? A lower level outfielder? I’m not familiar with their minor league system so I’m not sure
The Rangers are reportedly very high on Mazara and would not send him plus Gonzalez for Ozuna IMO.
I wasn’t sure like I said I don’t know their system other then Gallo and who they shipped to philly lol, I think miamis price is a bit high, but something what I said above seems to meet what they want, but again I think teams are trading for him based on potential not 2015, he’s got a great arm and has 25 homer potential so I think he’s worth a decent return
I honestly don’t think the Marlins should pry with Ozuna at all. They have arguably the one of ur best outfields in baseball of their players can stay healthy and get somewhat near their potential. In my opinion (and I am not a Marlins fan) this is the team’s window (in the next three years before Fernandez hits free agency) and think they should go all out. Originally I thought they should sign Chris Davis and maybe Johnny Cueto, but I guess it’s too late for at least half of that.
The Marlins are asking for a ton for Ozuna & he didn’t have a good season at all last season. I can see why teams are hesitant to give up a lot for him considering the way he struggled. He isn’t a proven commodity as of yet. So why would the Rangers or another team give up several top level prospects or major league players for a guy that could turn out to be a one-year wonder? Yes, he could turn out to be an excellent player, but we just don’t know that right now. It would be a risk to give up a lot for him at this point.
Rangers just make that trade
Maybe the Rangers trade Josh Hamilton and Chi-Chi for Ozuna? They would have to pass on the financial savings to the Marlins though.
Am I missing something? Why is Ozuna thought to be worth what some people are suggesting? He had a down year with a sub .700 OPS. He’s an average glove and doesn’t do 1 thing above average. The only thing going for him is his 3-4 years of control.
So we are still doing this Alex Gonzalez thing? He has no out pitch. He is a 40+/80 player. An actual prospect would have to go with Ozuna. The Marlins either are buying into a baseball america scouting report from 2013 or this is bogus.