MLB Trade Rumors: Could the Oakland Athletics Swing a Deal for Current Miami Marlins Outfielder Marcell Ozuna?
Athletics would likely need to give up plenty of prospect capital if they want to acquire Ozuna
Rumors are hinting that the Miami Marlins will be active sellers on the trading market this offseason, and one of the players they may be open to moving is outfielder Marcell Ozuna.
After submitting a less than stellar 2015 campaign, Ozuna spent the last two seasons showing that he is one of the best outfielders in the Majors.
Ozuna was particularly impressive this past season, as he posted a spectacular 312/376/548 slashline to go with 37 homeruns, as seen in Baseball-Reference. The current Marlins' slugger is also in the prime of his career, so it is easy to see him continuing to put up eye-popping numbers over the coming seasons.
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Only serving to make Ozuna a more valuable player is his current contract situation.
As shown in Spotrac, Ozuna is not set to enter free agency until 2020.
What all that means is that Ozuna is both a productive player and an affordable one - the kind of player almost any team would like to have.
That also means that if the Marlins really are intent on trading Ozuna, they will likely not struggle to find any takers.
Even at this early point in the offseason, there may already be a team willing to make an offer for Ozuna.
According to a recent report from the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, the Oakland Athletics "have interest" in Ozuna.
Again, considering Ozuna's production and team-friendly contract terms, he will not come cheap. The Marlins will likely demand a significant prospect return in exchange for their star outfielder, though the Athletics may have the players in their system needed to complete a deal.
Even if the Athletics decide that top prospect Franklin Barreto is off the table, they can still put together a good trade package that features their other highly regarded Minor Leaguers such as position players Dustin Fowler and Jorge Mateo and perhaps even pitcher A.J. Puk.
If the Marlins are looking to acquire young Major Leaguers, the Athletics have players who fit that description who they could include in a deal as well, such as Matt Olson and Sean Manaea.
All kinds of deals are going to be made this winter by Major League teams, and one of those may feature the Marlins and Athletics exchanging talented players.
More news about the latest MLB trade rumors should be made available soon.
