MLB Trade Rumors: Marlins’ Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, & Ichiro Suzuki On A’s Wish List?
With the baseball offseason now underway, MLB trade rumors continue to circulate, particularly around the Miami Marlins. The team is under new ownership with former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter taking over the helm as CEO. That means it’s rebuilding time. They’re looking to break up their team somewhat, and that has created potential trade options for teams including the Oakland Athletics. Could the A’s end up getting either Christian Yelich or Marcell Ozuna on their roster? Also, here are the latest details on free agent Ichiro Suzuki’s search for a new team which seems to intersect with Oakland as well.
On Wednesday, a report from SF Chronicle‘s Susan Slusser indicated that Oakland is interested in acquiring an outfielder “several years of team control remaining.” At the top of their list seems to be Marcel Ozuna or right-handed hitter Christian Yelich. Both of these players could be on the move as the Marlins look to break up their roster. As far as getting one of these players is concerned, the Athletics don’t have much to offer from their current roster in terms of a trade package. However, the Oakland A’s still have a good bit of minor-league players they’ve built up over the years which could be packaged.
As ESPN noted in their report, both players fit the criteria of what Oakland wants in terms of team control as Ozuna is a free agent by 2020 and Yelich has a “$15 million option or $125 million buyout for 2022.” Ozuna had career-best numbers this past season with a .312 batting average, 37 home runs, and 124 RBIs. Yelich had 18 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases. He’s also won the Silver Slugger award two seasons ago. Adding either Yelich or Ozuna to an emerging Oakland lineup could certainly go a long way in the next several seasons.
As far as Ichiro Suzuki goes, the veteran MLB star is on the tail end of his All-Star career after bursting into the league back in 2001. After spending the bulk of his career with the Seattle Mariners, he spent two seasons with the New York Yankees and his past few seasons with the Marlins. Now it appears he’s looking to head to a West Coast team and his agent John Boggs recently spoke to the Oakland A’s.
Ichiro Suzuki (3,080 hits in 17 @MLB seasons) is a free agent after Marlins decline 2018 club option. https://t.co/Mr2Sn4mySi pic.twitter.com/LzgylHRSRg
— MLB (@MLB) November 3, 2017
It’s mentioned that other players who were nearing the end of their careers played for the A’s including David Justice, Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza, and Nomar Garciaparra. Could MLB free agent Ichiro Suzuki be the next ahead of his eventual induction to Cooperstown?
[Featured Image by Hunter Martin/Getty Images]
