Seattle Mariners working on a deal to acquire Marcell Ozuna

With outfielder Marcell Ozuna reportedly fallen out of favor in Miami, could the Seattle Mariners pick him up in a trade?

Last night, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported that the Seattle Mariners were exploring a trade to acquire Marcell Ozuna from the Miami Marlins.

Ozuna debuted for the Marlins in 2013 but made a name for himself in 2014. He hit .269/.317/.455 to go along with 23 HR and 85 RBIs that year. Not only that, but he also played above average defense in the outfield. This was evident by his tenth-place finish in DRS (defensive runs saved) in MLB. Following 2014, many believed the outfield of Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna could quickly become the league’s best.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

However, 2015 was not a great follow-up performance by Ozuna. In 123 games he had a below average offensive season. His line fell to .259/.308/.383, and he only connected on ten home runs. Not only did he struggle offensively, but his defensive numbers also regressed.

2015 wasn’t just a struggle for Ozuna on the field. On July 6, the Marlins optioned Ozuna to their AAA team in New Orleans. As Steven Wine noted, this led to strong criticism of the Marlins from Ozuna’s agent Scott Boras. While Ozuna clearly wasn’t playing well prior to his demotion, it has been suggested that there might have been ulterior motives for the move. The missed service time ensured that Ozuna would not qualify for arbitration this offseason.

All of this drama led to a strained relationship between Ozuna and Marlins ownership. Another tweet from Crasnick earlier this week shed light on the nature of Ozuna’s relationship with Jeffery Loria.

It’s clear that the Marlins would like to move Ozuna. So how good of a fit would the Mariners be for the 25-year old?

Seattle was a trendy pick to make the playoffs in 2015. However, things did not go as planned, and the team finished 4th in the AL West with a 76-86 record. As Jeff Sullivan wrote in July there’s not a lot of mystery to what went wrong.

A number of Mariners players failed to live up to their pre-season projections. Sure there were a few bright spots in the lineup. Nelson Cruz lived up to the hype, and Robinson Cano looked like Robinson Cano in the second half. Unfortunately those performances weren’t nearly enough to overcome a large group of underperforming players.

Seattle’s offense was a mixed bag last season. By wRC+ they were right around league average. However, they scored the third fewest runs in the AL and they finished 11th in OBP. Two of their most productive offensive seasons did come from the outfield in Nelson Cruz and Seth Smith. So where does Ozuna fit in?

The third outfield spot was a struggle for the Mariners all season long. Austin Jackson spent more time at the position than anyone. He was slightly below average offensively and defensively, but in August he was shipped to the Cubs. Brad Miller and Dustin Ackley both spent time in center, but neither was viewed as the long term solution.

Adding Ozuna’s bat to the lineup could be beneficial, but he could be really helpful on defense. By DRS the Mariners were easily the worst defensive outfield in the AL (-45). As mentioned above, Ozuna didn’t rate nearly as well defensively in 2015 as he did in 2014, but he’s shown the ability to play the position well. The 2016 Mariners could couple Ozuna with newly acquired Leonys Martin to help solve one of their most glaring deficiencies from a year ago.

One of the casualties of Seattle’s disappointing 2015 was GM Jack Zduriencik. The Mariners decided to make a change, and hired Jerry Dipoto in September. Since taking over Dipoto has a made a number of moves to try and put Seattle in a better position next season.

He’s already traded Brad Miller, Logan Morrison and Danny Farquhar for Nate Karns, C.J. Riefenhauser and Boog Powell. A week later he acquired Joaquin Benoit from the Padres. Four days after that he traded for Leonys Martin and Anthony Bass. Another four-day period passed before he then traded for Luis Sardinas.

Next: Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda asks to be posted

Dipoto hasn’t been shy about making moves this off-season. Could Ozuna be the next piece he adds to the puzzle? Check Call to the Pen for more updates on the situation.