MLB Roundup 12/14: Marcell Ozuna is a Cardinal

Marcell Ozuna traded from Miami to St. Louis

The biggest move on Wednesday in Orlando came midway through the day when the Marlins continued to strip down their talented roster. This time, it was Marcell Ozuna on the move and he was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals. The two sides obviously knew each other fairly well after long negotiations in the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes. Miami got four prospects in return, though only one was really top-100 caliber. The Red Sox were reportedly involved in this conversation but clearly fell short. Although Ozuna is coming off a spectacular season and has the potential to be the power bat Boston needs, the track record isn’t really as impressive as the hype around him would suggest. I certainly wouldn’t have been upset if Boston landed Ozuna, but there are better options out there that won’t cost prospects.

Ian Kinsler traded to the Angels

A second big trade was made later in the day on Wednesday with Ian Kinsler being sent from the rebuilding Tigers to the retooling Angels. Los Angeles has been one of the stars of the offseason after signing Shohei Ohtani, and now they are showing they are serious about building this team by grabbing Kinsler to fill their hole at second base. Granted, Kinsler isn’t nearly the player he once was but he can still get on base some hitting in front of the power hitters in the middle of their lineup. The Angels could still use some help in their rotation, but they have a really solid core coming together and should be right in the thick of things in 2018. Some wanted the Red Sox to go after Kinsler in Pedroia’s absence, but that never made much sense for a stopgap option.

• The reliever market continued to move on Wednesday. The most notable move for our purposes included Jake McGee heading back to Colorado on a three-year deal. The Red Sox are expected to be in the market for a left-handed reliever, and this could mean the contract will be a bit larger (or at least longer) than expected.
• The Mariners got into the bullpen game as well, snagging Juan Nicasio. The righty has closer-caliber stuff but is more at home in a set-up role. That’s where he’ll be with the Mariners and they could have a scary back of the bullpen up in Seattle.
• Continuing with the AL West theme, the Astros also added to their bullpen by signing the underrated Joe Smith. The middle relief market is flying.
• In even more bullpen news, one of the top arms on the market is going back to his old team after Brandon Kintzler has re-signed with the Nationals. Though he isn’t the typical overpowering reliever, Kintzler has been incredibly effective over the last few years and will fit right into the back of Washington’s ‘pen.