Miami Marlins Show Some Sense By Keeping Marcell Ozuna

The Miami Marlins appear to have had a change of heart, and down the road they’re going to be happy they did. At one point, the Miami front office appeared set on trading away outfielder Marcell Ozuna due to some uneasiness between him and owner Jeffrey Loria. However, recent reports indicate that the Marlins are now unlikely to trade Ozuna, and that’s the best decision Miami could make from a baseball standpoint.

Part of the reason for the apparent change of plans is the Marlins reportedly signing pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, taking away the need to use Ozuna to acquire a pitcher. Members of Miami’s new coaching staff, including manager Don Mattingly and hitting coach Barry Bonds, have also spoken out about their desire to keep Ozuna. Mattingly, Bonds and others are correct in their assessment that keeping Ozuna is best for the Marlins, as his talent and potential are surely more important than any petty personal issue Loria may have had with him.

It’s true that Ozuna struggled in 2015 after a breakout 2014 season, specifically with regard to his power numbers, as Ozuna had a .455 slugging percentage in 2014 but only slugged .383 in 2015. But considering Ozuna’s age (he played the 2015 season as a 24-year-old), it’s undoubtedly worth cutting him some slack. It’s important to note that Ozuna made his big league debut in 2013, at which time he had no experience at Triple-A and had a mere 42 at-bats at Double-A, so he was bound to experience growing pains at some point. Most importantly, when Ozuna returned from a five-week stint at Triple-A, he was much improved and finished the season strong.

With Ozuna still in Miami, the Marlins have one of the more formidable outfields in the National League with Ozuna, Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton. Ozuna may be rough around the edges and lacking in polish, but he’s still a five-tool player who’s loaded with talent and more than capable of developing into an All-Star caliber player in the near future. Meanwhile, Yelich is even younger than Ozuna and coming off a season in which he hit .300 with a .782 OPS, and he may only be scratching the surface of what he’s capable of producing. Then there’s Stanton, who’s still only 26 himself and easily one of the best power hitters in all of baseball.

Miami’s outfield trio of Ozuna, Yelich and Stanton has a chance to be something special in the years to come. Of course, trading Ozuna because he had a minor spat with the owner would completely change the look of the outfield and take away the prospect of these three continuing to grow and improve, both as individuals and as a unit. If the Marlins have in fact changed their mind about trading Ozuna, it is the right move and one that could pay big dividends for them down the line.