Mish: Marcell Ozuna Traded to St. Louis Cardinals

[fish16]

I don't like Alcantara and for him to be the centerpiece of the trade that was supposed to be the biggest trade to rebuild this team is garbage. Alcantara as a secondary piece would be just ok he walks a ton of batters and his best ERA to date is in the 3's plus he already has to be kept on the 40 man roster until he is ready to be our closer. I let they hype of hoping they got a good return get the best of me and seeing this I just don't understand what the hell they are doing besides dumping salaries.

im with you dude, id like them to come out and say something about their scouts liking him and his ability to fix his control.

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St. Louis is supposed to have a good farm system right? These "top prospects" that we've gotten from them so far have terrible numbers.

ya, sierra is one of my least favorite of their OF's. leadoff type hitter. supposedly dynamic type fielder, but still, the first two guys are definitely underwhelming.

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Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 30 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 50
Baseball development isn't always a straight path and sometimes prospects need to take a step back to move forward. That seems to be the case with Sierra, who wasn't ready for full-season ball in 2015, righted the ship after a move back to the Rookie-level Appalachian League, then handled the Midwest League in 2016 by finishing ninth in batting average and tied for third in stolen bases. He jumped on the fast track in 2017, moving up to Double-A early in the season and even making his big league debut in May.

While Sierra could stand to refine his approach and draw more walks, especially since he profiles as a top-of-the-order type hitter, he does have a knack for making consistent hard contact. He doesn't have over-the-fence power, but Sierra has enough strength to hit the gaps. From there, his speed allows him to take extra bases and he should become a more efficient basestealer as he progresses. Sierra is an elite-level defender in center field, the kind who regularly makes highlight-reel plays, and he has a plus arm to boot.

Seeing a young player show they can bounce back after struggling, that they can demonstrate and learn from adversity, is important in development. That skill, along with his natural tools, has allowed Sierra to make forward progress up the ladder.

MLB.com's analysis of him. this is from before the year though.

[sports24/7]

Now we can start to criticize lol.

Sierra is actually a little bit better than I expected. He's not Bader, but I didn't expect Bader, and Sierra is just behind him on their prospects list.

[Ralph]

Such a mike hill kind of guy.

[fish16]

Sierra is actually a little bit better than I expected. He's not Bader, but I didn't expect Bader, and Sierra is just behind him on their prospects list.

Ya, he is definitely not as bad as his numbers. Apparently an elite level defender with a great arm. The hope is that he is an elite defender and can put up a .750 OPS as a leadoff guy id assume. I hope they give him some time in Jax to start the year and improve the bat a little and get another year of team control out of him maybe.

[flamarlins93]

Another one that has to stay on the 40 man roster. Of all the outfielders they have why him? I don't think everyone's miracle man Denbo is making these moves It must really be Hill. God help us.

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Defense is all well and good but if he can't get on base he isn't worth having.

[Ralph]

Fangraphs has him higher than Bader(who many are down on btw). But I personally don’t like these kind of players.

[sports24/7]

Ya, he is definitely not as bad as his numbers. Apparently an elite level defender with a great arm. The hope is that he is an elite defender and can put up a .750 OPS as a leadoff guy id assume. I hope they give him some time in Jax to start the year and improve the bat a little and get another year of team control out of him maybe.

He hit above .300 in 22 games for the Cardinals last year. Cardinals fans are actually pretty high on him. Many not thrilled with him being included. I'd assume he'll be Miami's leadoff hitter in 2017.

[flamarlins93]

I am not thrilled with him being included either. He only hit .269 at AA.

[Ralph]

I’d prefer if he spent some time in AAA.

[Nick]

No power, low OBP speedy guy who isn't very good at stealing bases.

Awesome.

[flamarlins93]

He will be our new RF. lol Lee in center and Galloway in LF.

[rmc523]

No power, low OBP speedy guy who isn't very good at stealing bases.

Awesome.

So Dee Gordon minus the base stealing?

Can we get rid of Hill already? I'm sure he's a nice guy, but the returns on these deals has left a lot to be desired....we need a new head of the front office.

[Erick]

So Dee Gordon minus the base stealing?

Can we get rid of Hill already?

He steals bases. Probably the CF’er after Yelich gets traded.

[lou]

The most precocious of the many upper-level Cardinals outfield prospects, Sierra, just 21, was thrust straight from High-A into a seven-game big-league espresso in May. After that, he shuttled back and forth from Double-A Springfield to St. Louis multiple times, playing well in the big leagues — including a nine-game hit streak to start his career and a .317/.359/.317 line in 64 MLB PAs — until he scuffled during a September call-up that was freckled with very little playing time.

Sierra’s plus-plus speed is his game’s foundation. It enables him to glide from gap to gap in center field and run down balls lots of center fielders wouldn’t sniff. Many scouts think he has Gold Glove capability there. Others think his routes and reads (as well as his jumps on steal attempts) leave something to be desired, especially on balls hit in front of him, but cede that his range makes him very special or at least gives him the potential to be. He began seeing time in the outfield corners again in 2017, his first affiliated reps there since 2014, and he was visibly rusty.

Sierra’s speed also allows him to make the most of a small-ball offensive approach that involves a lot of action on the infield. He sprays low-lying contact in every direction, tallying many hits due to speed alone. Most of Sierra’s extra-base production comes from contact sliced into the outfield corners, as Sierra’s barrel doesn’t mirror the path of a pitched baseball until late in its journey, and he’s often unable to pull to ball in the air, especially when pitches are located away from him.

Sierra’s approach to contact and listed height and weight evoke a certain lack of stature but he’s not without some physicality. His hips are loose and rotate hard, helping Sierra to take a pretty healthy cut. His hand-eye coordination and admirable plate coverage allow him to put the ball in play consistently, just not typically in a way that is impactful. I think there’s more physical ability here than shows in the batted-ball profile (83.4 mph average exit velocity in the big leagues) but would likely take significant adjustment.

The Cardinals have shown some ability to help hitters make adjustments like this in the past, but it’s more likely that Sierra goes all-in on an approach that avoids strikeouts – especially against breaking balls down — and produces much like Kevin Pillar and Jacoby Ellsbury do with great defense in center field. He projects as an average regular. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-...uis-cardinals/

Fangraphs has him above Alcantara FWIW.

[sports24/7]

If Delvin Perez or Dakota Hudson end up in this deal, I'll feel a little bit better about it. Still wouldn't love it, but it won't be the turd sandwich I was expecting when it was first being reported that it was Alcantara and a bunch of lesser prospects.