3 John Mozeliak moves that came back to haunt the Cardinals, and one that worked out

Mozeliak haunting move for Cardinals: Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen for Marcell Ozuna

At the time, the Cardinals were excited to get a Gold Glove outfielder. He wasn’t exactly a Gold Glove outfielder with the Cardinals. And who knew the pitchers the Cardinals traded to get that outfielder would turn into two of the best starting pitchers in the National League, one of whom won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022.

No big deal!

In December 2017, Marcell Ozuna was traded by the Miami Marlins to the St. Louis Cardinals for Sandy Alcantara, Daniel Castano, Zac Gallen, and Magneuris Sierra. The same Sandy Alcantara that won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022 and the same Zac Gallen that was traded again to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jazz Chisholm, Jr. He’s performing at an ace level for the Diamondbacks.

Ozuna was an exciting choice for the Cardinals. He has a unique personality and had some spectacular home runs, but at times, his play in the outfield was jaw-droppingly bad. It was an interesting two seasons.

Ozuna then went on to the Atlanta Braves. He’s been the same spark plug for them but has had a couple of incidents involving domestic violence. He’s a frustrating player.

Alcantara won the NL Cy Young Award but is struggling this season. In 16 starts, he is 3-6 with a 4.82 ERA over 102.2 innings. He has thrown 83 strikeouts. Gallen has pitched 17 games this season with a record of 10-2 with a 3.02 ERA over 104.1 innings. He has thrown 108 strikeouts.

Gallen is putting up some Cy Young Award-caliber numbers. If he were to win, Cardinal fans might revolt.