Marlins finalize trade of Arraez to Padres for 4 players

We’re still months away from the Trade Deadline, but we have already seen the first blockbuster trade of the 2024 season. Luis Arraez is headed to San Diego.

The Marlins on Saturday finalized a deal with the Padres for the two-time batting champion. Miami acquired right-handed reliever Woo-Suk Go and three prospects: OFs Dillon Head (Padres No. 6 prospect) and Jakob Marsee (No. 9) and 1B/OF Nathan Martorella (No. 13).

Following a 3-1 loss to the A’s in Oakland on Friday night, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker acknowledged it was tough to break the news to his squad about 15 minutes before first pitch.

TRADE DETAILS
Padres get: 2B Luis Arraez, cash considerations
Marlins get: RHP Woo-Suk Go, OF Dillon Head, OF Jakob Marsee, 1B/OF Nathan Martorella

“Arraez is one of our leaders in the clubhouse, great teammate,” Schumacher said. “So, of course, yeah, I think it’s human nature that it [has] shock value when it happens. ... I think the initial shock factor is definitely real. Hopefully it goes away in a couple of days or tomorrow, or whatever it is, because we know it’s business and you’re paid to win games and be professional.”

Arraez’s locker was cleared out by the time media members were allowed in the clubhouse on Friday night, and he wasn’t present to take questions from reporters. Marlins veteran Jazz Chisholm Jr. was sad to see one of his closest friends on the team leave, but said that it wasn’t awkward having him in the dugout during the game.

“It’s not weird,” Chisholm said. “You’re just wishing your brother some luck. If anything, we were trying to go out there and let him leave on a high note. Not trying to let him go out there and leave here, no music playing in the clubhouse, nothing going on. It’s kind of upsetting that we didn’t send him off on a good note.”

• This prospect went from on base to a new team

For the Padres, who entered Friday in second place in the NL West with a 16-18 record, the move represents a major splash as the team attempts to make the playoffs following last year’s disappointing 82-80 season. Though the Padres notably traded Juan Soto to the Yankees during the offseason, the San Diego lineup still includes stars such as Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts.

Arraez, a two-time reigning Silver Slugger Award winner, provides yet another big name for the franchise. Arraez won the AL batting title in 2022 when he batted .316 for the Twins, and did so in the NL last season with the Marlins, becoming the only player to win an AL/NL batting title in two straight years with two different teams, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. His 2023 season was particularly notable, as he had a lengthy chase of a .400 season before finishing the season with a .354 average -- still the best by any qualified hitter in a 162-game season since Josh Hamilton’s .359 in 2010.

As those lofty batting averages would suggest, Arraez’s bread and butter throughout his career has been his ability to make contact. Since Arraez debuted in 2019, he accounts for MLB’s only three seasons in which a player took at least 500 swings and whiffed on fewer than 8% of them. Though he was hitting “only” .299 this season entering Friday, the 2024 season hasn’t been much different in that regard, as his 9.1% whiff rate ranked second in MLB behind Cleveland’s Steven Kwan.

Given that San Diego moved Bogaerts to second base this season in an effort to let reigning Gold Glove Award winner Ha-Seong Kim move to shortstop, it’s unclear exactly how Arraez will fit into the lineup. However, it’s worth noting that Arraez has played 79 career games at third base, where Machado returned to action on April 26 after beginning the season as a designated hitter.

As for the Marlins, the move certainly might signal the beginning of further moves after their 9-24 start -- tied for their second worst through 33 games in franchise history, only ahead of an 8-25 start in 1995. Last year’s Marlins squad had the lowest run differential of any playoff team in MLB history, and that good luck has swung harshly in the other direction this season.