It's been over 2 years now since the Cardinals have been in the playoffs. For how successful the Cardinals reputation has been in the past. These past 2 years have been a disappointment with the expectations of always being the top 2 teams in the NL Central which has lead to the acquisition of star outfielder Marcell Ozuna. What the Cards have been missing these past couple season have been a power bat that can bring in 30 bombs and 100 steaks and Marcell fits the vacancy perfectly. After the Miami Marlins decided to get rid franchise player Giancarlo Stanton, they decided to sell out overall giving up their second best hitter in Marcell. Ozuna had a breakout year last season batting 312 with 37 home runs, 124 rbi's, 191 hits, and an OPS of 924 in 159 games. Ozuna was an NL All-Star in 2017 with also winning a Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger award. He will be turning 28 in 2018 with 2 more years left on his contract becoming the Cards new cleanup hitter and new face of the franchise. Ozuna's ceiling is set very high in 2018 with the expectations of him either repeating last seasons performance or breaking more career statistics. Marcell has above average power with a level swing that can spread the defense thin, and in the outfield has a solid glove with an above average arm. With such a high leveled peforming player coming to St.Louis means Miami's return needed to be as valuable as Marcell. The Cardinals got lucky with this trade only giving up key prospect pitcher Sandy Alcantara and 3 other low quality prospects without giving up there favorites in catcher Carson Kelly, pitcher Alex Reyes, starting pitcher Jake Flaherty, and rookie phenom Luke Weaver. The only other prospect that looked promising for Miami is Magneuris Sierra who could be starting in Right Field for the Marlins this year, but still has a lot of maturing to do. With all this being put into perspective the Cardinals got the best bang for there buck getting a high level quality player entering in his prime with a club friendly contract being the Cards next X-factor. With a new look for the Cards and for Ozuna we can see Marcell playing in 140-155 games batting 280-310 with 30-38 home runs and a 90-115 rbi's. Marcell is done hiding in the shadows of Giancarlo's stardom and ready to the lead the Cards back to October.
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