It is so natural that the M's are in:

But then, I've talked about this before.

For Elias and stuff?  In a heartbeat....as long as the stuff isn' tKivlehan or Pizzano.  I'm intrigued by Tyler Smith, too.  would swap him out.  Deej is a likely goner in the right deal (I get something else back)

Karns, straight up?  Well that really is a Miller for Ozuna swap and that's a pick 'em bet.

Paxton?  I'll pass (and perhaps wish I hadn't later) and get somebody that is Ozuna-lite.

Jeff (which sounds weird), this is better thand a redraw at the Saunders' deck.

Saunders has a career .702 vR and .640 vL (1329 and 626 PA's, respectively).  Ozuna is .706 and .808 (1115/282).  

Ozuna is Saunders equal vR (despite the platoon disadvantage) and kicks the snot out of him vL. 

I do not want to give up Kivlehan, as I'm convinced he's about to hit MLB thowers with authority (he's learned a bit of the Asian "pose"), but we need a 3-position OF and Ozuna is just that.  But if this is Elias for Ozuna, count me WAY in. 

I may name my next kid Dipoto if that happens.

My favorite "+" for Elias was Flores, who could have moved into LF for the Marlins, with Yelich moving to CF (which he has played when Ozuna was in RF due to Stanton's injuries) which would make Miami whole plus a young pitcher. Since that ship has sailed, I guess offering some really good, but not elite, lower-level talent might work. Ian Miller + Luis Liberato? Something along those lines. If I really thought it was the difference in getting a deal done, I'd offer both Elias and Montgomery (Miami is looking for 2 starters) and something besides (Guaipe or JRamirez) for Ozuna + maybe Chris Reed, a former Dodger 1st round pick LH who is a reliever that could be stashed at Tacoma for a rainy day, and maybe a well-regarded lower-level 'spect.

I do fear that similar logic will apply and the Marlins will want Kivlehan to be the LF in place of Flores. I'd try steering them to Romero, Robertson, or Blash instead. Kivlehan wouldn't be a deal-breaker (though I would rather trade DJ than him) but I'd sure like to keep him. Montero would be a legit offer if the Marlins were an AL club, but alas. But maybe Baltimore, if they lose out on Davis, will give the Ms Tyler Wilson for Montero. Perfect park for Jesus.

So, musing over, without Flores, I'd offer Elias, Romero, and Guaipe or JRamirez and hope they take it. Adding Montgomery, with them adding some pen spaghetti would be the fall back.If I thought Sipp was out of reach for the pen, I might ask for Mike Dunn, a LH reliever of similar experience to Sipp, but not the recent dominance.

Then, to finish my plan for JeDi's execution, I trade DJ + Marlette to Boston for Sam Travis and Sandy Leon. Everything else is signing FAs - 'Kuma and/or Chen, Lowe, Sipp, and Oh. If Karns is who goes to Miami, though, my yen for Chen AND 'Kuma goes up considerably.

Though it has fluctuated quite a bit during his short career, the Steamer and B-ref prediction of a 21-22% K rate for Ozuna seems about right and not really that excessive - less than Saunders with a MUCH higher BA, for example. Saunders was my favorite Mariner, but I think Ozuna is a better player in proven performance terms, though maybe not as good a fit for Safeco. But looking at video, Saunders just looks better than Ozuna (and almost everyone else) doing all things Baseball. I was sad to lose him.

Saunders' vR from '12-14:  .718, .751. 831

If you were to say that he's a .760 vR guy, going down the line (reasonable) then he clearly hs that advantage over Ozuna.

Fair enough.

Not Paxton.  Most probably not Karns.  Yep on Elias.  

In the Seahawks blog world one often sees a player exhibiting certain physical and football skills and attributes described as being “Seahawky.” What would you say was the equivalent JeDi player qualities/circumstances? Knowing zero about it, I took a quick look at the Fangraphs page on Ozuna and read through the mostly Roto articles mentioning him. Stat-speak gives me a headache (where is Spec to explain it?), but my fuzzy 30k foot takeaway is that this guy hits the ball really hard, a bunch of times to the opposite field, and hits fly balls a long way, and all of those metrics are elite level, and none of them fell significantly in 2015 even though his HR and SLG did. JeDi has said he likes buy-low opportunities after a bad year. Does Ozuna fit that bill? It will be interesting to see what JeDi is willing to pay for him.

My point all along ... he's a "fit". Not at any cost. The comparison of Elias' consistency and toughness with Ozuna's ability to do several things very well is the place I started. Elias and Flores looked to me like one of those "everybody wins" trades that even Loria would see as fair.

I'm not as sure now there's a trading "fit" though I still believe in the roster "fit". Ozuna's not a superstar, although he might make an All-Star team in a year when the team is successful. What he is might make the Ms from a contender-with-holes to a contender-with-few-holes.

But when the dust of "we won't take less than a 30-HR bat is worth" clears and the 20-HR bat with a lot of inconsistency remains, maybe there will be a deal there. But Paxton and Walker just don't make sense - but I also doubt any other club will offer someone even on the level with Elias.

Maybe Miami will see that and will look across to Tampa Bay and to Detroit and see that the M's have been pretty good at pitching development and their 4th and 5th starters are often pretty good. Maybe not. 

But Ozuna in Safeco, with Cano and Cruz and Marte, batting 5th or 6th, playing 100 G in RF and 40 G in CF, would be a mighty nice cog in a contending gear train. But Ozuna's ability to fulfill his promise is also predicated on what type of team he is on; he just seems like that kind of player. Much of the value he would provide would come from the value added of playing with Cano and Cruz. Put him on many other clubs and he might be a head case. So Miami selling him as a potential 30-HR lineup mainstay is disingenuous. I hope they realize that soon.