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You can find all of last night’s scores here (in case you can’t watch the games on TV). Also: Mike Trout might be an angel for life after all and we take a look at some of the best players. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!
How the Padres plan to use another infielder
Shortly after Friday’s newsletter went out, the Padres surprised everyone by acquiring Luis Arraez (and nearly $8 million) from the Marlins for three prospects and a minor league reliever. May 3!
I was curious, so I researched every trade ever made during the month of May (please don’t do this to yourself), and even though the Marlins had the the strangest A twothemes began to emerge: lots of backup catchers, late-career stars, guys changing scenery, and big league talent for talent.
And also… football stars? The New York Giants traded Jim Thorpe to the Boston Braves in 1919, and the Reds sent Deion Sanders to the Braves in 1994.
But it’s different. Arraez won a Silver Slugger in each of the last two years while leading the AL (2022, Twins) and NL (2023, Marlins) in batting average. The closest comparison I found was in 1989, when the Mariners sent All-Star and two-time Gold Glover Mark Langston to Montreal on May 25 for three pitchers (one of whom was a 25-year-old left-hander and 6 feet 10 inches). named Randy Johnson).
Ken has more on the Marlins (and timing) below, but as for the Padres, you may be wondering: Why do they need another infielder?
It’s not really about Arraez’s defensive stance, but rather his ability to reach base while hitting left-handed. In his Padres debut on Saturday, he went 4 for 6 as a DH. Last night he played second base, giving Xander Bogaerts an off day at DH.
That seems to be the plan for now: fill in when guys need a day off, otherwise sign up for DH and get on base at something resembling his career mark of .378.
Dennis Lin has a more in-depth look at the Padres’ situation, along with trade notes and analysis from Keith Law.
Ken’s notebook: Have the Marlins explored all options in the Arraez trade?
Excerpt from today’s column:
Any trade in which a team lands a two-time batting champion while reducing payroll deserves closer scrutiny. San Diego Padres general manager AJ Preller pulled off this trick, as only he can, with his stunning acquisition of Arraez.
Perhaps no general manager is as adept at collecting talent as Preller, even if those talents don’t always mesh. But the end of the Miami Marlins’ deal could be even more intriguing than the Padres’, and not just because of how quickly — and outrageously — the Marlins quit in 2024.
Marlins general manager Peter Bendix was right when he said in a press conference that his team was unlikely to reach the playoffs. But let’s talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Marlins have eliminated Kim Ng, the general manager who orchestrated their first full-season playoff appearance in 20 years. They signed just one free agent, shortstop Tim Anderson, who owns the sixth-lowest OPS in the game. They essentially agreed to part ways with reigning NL Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker, who, after leading the team to remove the club option on his contract, is surely counting the days until his release.
Players’ careers are short. Every season is precious. Marlins owner Bruce Sherman hired Bendix from the Tampa Bay Rays, wanting to replicate the success of Stuart Sternberg’s thrifty operation across the state. Someone tell Sherman that the Rays never retreat like that. Since 2008, they have only won fewer than 80 games in a full season twice.
Which brings us to Arraez for reliever Woo-Suk Go and three prospects: outfielder Dillon Head, the 25th overall pick in the 2023 draft; outfielder Jakob Marsee, the most recent Arizona Fall League MVP; and first baseman/outfielder Nathan Martorella. Only, that wasn’t the entire deal — the Marlins also included nearly $8 million, reimbursing Arraez’s 2024 salary except for the prorated minimum, and took care of the rest of Go’s two-year, $4.5 million contract. The approach was rather odd for a team that always screams poor. But Bendix’s goal was to improve the quality of the feedback.
The trade deadline is almost three months away. Bendix said he feared the same deal would not have been available if he had waited, and that may be true. But has Bendix, in his first year as head of baseball operations, fully explored his options? If he had remained patient, he could have informed the other 29 teams of his willingness to cover almost all of Arraez’s salary and then seen how the market reacted.
Ohtani thrives in Los Angeles
When news broke of Shohei Ohtani’s performer Ippei Mizuhara being fired, it was the biggest gambling scandal in the sport since Pete Rose. (Honestly, that’s credit to the baseball people; there hasn’t really been one since.) It wasn’t my most pressing question at the time, but somewhere along the list I wondered how the turmoil of being allegedly betrayed by his best friend and confidant would impact Ohtani this season, on and off the court.
Well, Ohtani seems to have the baseball equivalent of a post-breakup glow.
He’s always been a great player, so it’s not entirely shocking that he leads the league in batting average (.364), slugging (.685), OPS (1.111), home runs (10 ), in doubles (14), in points (31). ) — OK, you know what? It’s a bit too much, even for him.
But there has also been a transformation off the field. With Mizuhara no longer serving as – in the words of manager Dave Roberts – a “buffer”, Ohtani has seemingly started to open up a little more in the clubhouse. The most recent example: a good-natured prank he played as he passed Roberts’ mark for most home runs in Dodgers history by a Japanese-born player.
Roberts had seven.
The manager had joked that Ohtani might be able to buy him a Porsche, given the star’s endorsement deal and the fact that Ohtani had given a similar gift to Joe Kelly’s wife when Kelly gave up his jersey number (17).
Ohtani brought Roberts a car…a miniature Porsche.
There’s more to the Fabian Ardaya story, but for the fans (and the media, and probably his teammates), it’s nice to start seeing a little more personality from the sport’s biggest star. Even better is the fact that he seems to be enjoying life a little more, while crushing the absolute goblins of any baseball nearby.
Injuries force Giants, Phillies to adapt
It’s bad news enough when your starting receiver goes down with a concussion, which is what happened to Patrick Bailey and the Giants on Friday. Bailey took a hard hit off the mask and suffered from blurred vision, meaning backup Tom Murphy was going to get some playing time.
Except the next night, Murphy injured his knee blocking a ball in the dirt in the rain, meaning Blake Sabol, who had just arrived from Sacramento, was the new Murphy, and the Giants already needed of a new Sabol.
That’s the case for Jakson Reetz, who had to take a red-eye flight from Sacramento to get to Philadelphia in time for Sunday’s game. Both catchers performed well in their first big league action of the year: Sabol went 2-for-3 Saturday in relief of Murphy, and Reetz homered in the ninth inning of his Giants debut .
It still wasn’t enough. The Giants’ offense is struggling and they have been swept by the Phillies, who now have the best record in baseball with a 24-11 record.
But Philly is dealing with an injury situation of its own. Shortstop Trea Turner is expected to miss at least six weeks with a hamstring strain. During his absence, Edmundo Sosa, who has a .708 career OPS in 317 big league games with the Cardinals and Phillies, will be the first option, while Bryson Stott will begin taking reps as a backup plan.
Other names striking IL: Nathan Eovaldi and Wyatt Langford (Rangers), Byron Buxton (Twins), Joe Musgrove (Padres), Evan Phillips (Dodgers) and Pierce Johnson (Braves).
Update on the sequence without removal
After five plate appearances without a K over the weekend, Steven Kwan’s streak reached 72 plate appearances, but he left Saturday’s game with a hamstring strain and will (also) reach the IL of 10 days. So we’re going to put this section on hold until it returns.
Slugging first base prospect Kyle Manzardo (No. 66 on Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospects list) will be called up to replace Kwan on the roster.
Handshakes and High Fives
I didn’t expect an article about a TikTok star to make me emotional. But Stephen Nesbitt’s story about Jordan Howlett and his baseball dreams is absolutely worth reading.
Tyler Kepner tells us a little more about Detroit ace Tarik Skubal.
Sometimes building a new stadium is an unnecessary way to increase a team’s net worth at taxpayer expense. Other times, it’s essential. Zack Meisel tells stories of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
The rally sausage is “…in the trash now – probably where it belongs,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said; the team’s winning streak ended at 12 games yesterday.
Keith Law is looking at a few possible openers.
Aaron Judge was ejected for the first time in his life (yes, his life) during the weekend. It happened as he was walking away. You probably know my feelings at this point.
You can buy tickets for every MLB game here.
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(Top photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)