Trade Details: Padres acquire 2B Luis Arraez from Marlins for RHP Woo-Suk Go, OF Dillon Head, 1B Nathan Martorella and OF Jakob Marsee
The San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins pulled off a surprise trade in May, two months before deadline mania usually takes hold, sending Luis Arraez to San Diego for an impressive haul of three prospects plus a major league reliever minor. The Padres may have improved a bit here, but the Marlins have done particularly well and have begun a long overdue rebuild.
The Padres’ offense hasn’t been a big problem for them this year, although you can see some cracks in the foundation that adding Arraez could fix. He doesn’t seem to have an obvious place to play on the Padres, however, with Xander Bogaerts at second base — the position Bogaerts should have played when he signed with San Diego — and Jake Cronenworth hitting pretty well playing first. Maybe all three will go through the DH spot, although Arraez needs to return to his 2022-23 production level to justify playing him there (as does Bogaerts, now that you mention it). Arraez lost a bit of contact quality early this year, not enough to sound the alarm and say he’s a lesser hitter, but enough to note it and say it’s worth monitoring, d ‘especially since the Padres have made it pretty clear that they think there’s no cause for concern. about.
GO FURTHER
MLB Trade Notes: Taking stock of the Padres-Marlins deal Luis Arraez
Miami’s return looked solid with initial reports that it included Dillon Head and Nathan Martorella, but when you add in Jakob Marsee, it’s the best deal the Marlins have made in years.
Head is the jewel of the trade, a first-round pick last July who has 70 speed (on the 20-80 scouting scale), maybe even 80, plus plus defense at center and very good bat speed. He showed strong contact quality in 2023 after his signing, but that didn’t continue until the first month of 2024, where he also showed difficulty with pitch recognition. He’s only 19 and won’t even turn 20 until October, so there’s plenty of time for him to make those adjustments, but I can also understand the win-now Padres deciding that his major league ETA is too far away for them to count.
Marsee should be a quality fourth outfielder over the next year, perhaps by the end of 2024, even with a slow start in Double A this year. He’s an above-average center fielder, a very intelligent base stealer, and demonstrates a solid approach at the plate, with a willingness to work on balls that makes up for a marginal hitting tool. He doesn’t have great swing speed, so the contact quality isn’t there to make him a regular, and he might not hit southpaws enough to get there anyway, but he should have a positive value in the major leagues for a long time as a player. part time.
GO FURTHER
Top 20 San Diego Padres 2024 Prospects: Ethan Salas, Jackson Merrill Lead the Way
Martorella has the hitting tool that Marsee lacks, but none of the other pieces, as he’s probably a first baseman ultimately — or a DH — and doesn’t yet have the power to profile as a regular in one or the other place. He’s a dead fastball hitter who hits at least lefties as well as righties, so there’s reason to hope he can find a path to becoming a soft regular, either with more power or improving his off-speed speed recognition enough to achieve consistently high averages. He’s more likely a 45, a good bench/reserve player who has strike value and won’t kill you if he plays every day for a few weeks.
Woo-Suk Go is also in the deal, which I assume involves sending some salary back to Miami. The KBO veteran (and brother-in-law of Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee) hasn’t had much success as a reliever thus far in Double A, although his 92-94 mph fastball has missed a few bats.
That’s three prospects with projected major league value, one of whom is a potential star, one month shy of two years of Arraez’s control. Miami is in freefall right now, with a rotation that has collapsed due to injuries and a reality bill they were going to have to pay after last year’s miraculous playoff berth, despite being outclassed this season.
Trading Arraez for three players who should help the team at some point in the future is smart. Doing it now, well before the retail season opens, is even smarter. For the Padres, I guess it makes them a little better, but Arraez needs to get back to last year’s level of production, and even if he does, they don’t need another bat so much as they need more help on the pitching side. , and seeing some of their highest-paid hitters get back to where they were a year or two ago.
(Photo by Dillon Head from the 2022 Perfect Game All-Star Game: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)