Cleveland Indians: 5 Missed Players at the 2015 Trade Deadline

Jun 3, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins center fielder

(13) connects for a base hit during the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

So the next player is not as well-known by Indians fans, but OF Marcell Ozuna of the Miami Marlins was another strong player the Cleveland Indians looked into at the trade deadline. Last year, the Indians and many other teams had interest in another Miami Marlins player by the name of Giancarlo Stanton. They balked, so did everyone else, and Stanton re-signed to stay in Miami.

Now everyone is regretting it, because before injury Stanton was leading the Majors in “crushed” home runs. So would the Indians be making the same mistake this time by not trading for a player like Ozuna? Well, the jury on that is out. Ozuna is nowhere near the power hitting talent that Stanton is, but he does have some pop.

Last season Ozuna hit .269 with 23 HR’s and 85 RBI’s, but his stats have fallen to .249 with only 4 HR’s and 26 RBI’s this season. He was demoted to AAA on July 5th, but he’s currently hitting .326 with 4 HR’s and 10 RBI’s, and will likely be recalled soon. So why would we want him in Cleveland?

He’s not much better than AAA bus riding Lonnie Chisenhall right? How about this? He hit .269, had 23 HR’s, and 85 RBI’s last year. If Chisenhall ever had a year like that, I think Cleveland fans would understand why the team keeps preaching patience on him. There’s also NBC Sports writer Matthew Pouliot, who is of the opinion that the Marlins are screwing Ozuna over by keeping him in the minors. They might want to prevent his salary from qualifying for a higher arbitration rate. If that’s true, it sounds Antonetti-like doesn’t it?

Bottom line, Ozuna is far from the equivalent of Cespedes or Puig, but he has shown some production at the Major League level. Antonetti will get the luxury of seeing Ozuna play again come September, and if Ozuna shows the form of 2014 again, the Indians might have missed another opportunity to add a talented bat to this roster.

We’ll call this one a foul ball. Ozuna has talent, but there was another miss.

Next: Uh Oh.. Another Left-Handed Bat