The general consensus is that the Miami Marlins got taken, hook, line and sinker, in trading two-time batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres.
Bernie Pleskoff describes Arraez’s potential impact on the Padres in his story today for Forbes.com
As for the Marlins, they reeled in four prospects, none of whom have played above the Double-A level. Adding infielder Nathan Martorella, outfielders Jakob Marsee and Dillon Head and relief pitcher Woo-Suk Go did not exactly cause South Beach partygoers to rejoice. And South Beach partygoers will go to a party to rejoice about anything.
A.J. Preller, the Padres’ president of operations and general manager, has been unofficially anointed “The Godfather” by his Marlins counterpart Peter Bendix. Preller simply gave Bendix an offer he claimed he couldn’t refuse.
“We got an offer that we felt like we couldn’t walk past for the long-term benefit of the organization,” Bendix told Jordan MacPherson of the Miami Herald. “We got a lot of prospect talent in return … that we think have a chance to really impact the major league team for six plus years of their control and who knows what else beyond that.”
Scouts Have Clout But Some Doubt
“I’m very confident in our analysis of these players,” Bendix said. “We have a really strong group here that I think produces very strong analysis. There’s nothing guaranteed in baseball for any player — but we feel very confident in these four players that we’re getting in return that they can be a meaningful part of our future.”
Martorella, 23, is the most advanced. Given $325,000 to sign as a fifth-round pick in 2022, he was batting .292 at Double-A San Antonio and standing on second base when informed of the trade. If Marlins fans are puzzled by the trade, watch his reaction to being pulled from the game, then told why. (Click link).
The left-hander has displayed a good eye at the plate in the minors, drawing nearly as many walks as strikeouts while hitting with a tad of power. Last year, he had 19 homers and 88 RBI in 135 games, playing mostly first base with some time in left field.
Marsee, 22, was scuffling at San Antonio, a far cry from his breakout 2023 season. The speedy lefty was batting only .177 in 25 games but did have 12 steals in 13 tries.
Scouting opinions are split. Many like his game. Others point to Marsee’s tendency to lift the ball too much. While high launch angles are coveted these days, players with his speed on the bases (89 steals in 101 tries as a pro) should try to hit safely instead of powerfully. Ideally, both are great, but at 6-foot, 180 pounds, he’s an unlikely slugger.
Speed, making contact, and defense are his game. Last summer, he added 16 homers to go with 46 steals, 98 walks t0 97 strikeouts and a .274 average. The Padres wanted to see more. They did in the Arizona Fall League. Marsee earned MVP honors by batting .391 with 5 homers, 25 runs, 20 RBI and 16 steals in 25 games.
All from a guy signed for $250,000 as a sixth-round pick from Central Michigan in 2022.
Head, 19, got $2.8 million to sign as a first-rounder (No. 25 overall) last summer after hitting .485 with six home runs and 31 stolen bases as a high-school senior in Illinois.
He is the most unpolished yet most interesting of the prospects. At his very best, the speedster projects as Kenny Lofton, who turned the American League on its ear in the 1990s with the Cleveland Indians as a daring runner, slashing hitter and elite outfielder. If Head doesn’t turn heads, he’ll go to the gigantic scrapheap of athletes who failed upon discovering that playing baseball is more than just running wild.
Not Yet Go Time
Go, 25, got a two-year, $4.5 million contract from the Padres to leave Korea. There’s also a $3 million mutual option for 2026. That’s quite a price for a guy sent to Double-A ball.
The 5-11 right-hander accumulated 139 saves for the LG Twins of the Korean Baseball Organization the past five years. His best year was 2022: 42 saves, a 1.48 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings. He did it with a mid-90s fastball, decent curve and cutter.
Those pitches overpowered Korean batters. Thus far in America, he is just one of many minor-leaguers trying to improve. The Marlins may move him up quickly.
The Immediate Verdict
Arraez got four hits in his first game for San Diego, a 13-1 win.
The Marlins, perhaps despondent at losing their prized leadoff man, lost their first game without him, 20-4. That was to the Oakland Athletics, an improved team but with plenty of players remaining from last year’s club that went 50-112.
History Says …
Maybe the Marlins simply looked at one deal to determine that the Padres’ long-standing history of trading top prospects was good enough to deal away Arraez, a .324 career hitter.
That would be the blockbuster of Aug. 31, 2020, when San Diego sent six players to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Mike Clevinger. The Padres also got spare outfielder Greg Allen, who played one game for them, and minor-league pitcher Matt Waldron. He has a 2-7 record thus far in 15 games for San Diego. Clevinger went 9-8 in 27 games and left as a free agent.
Cleveland got Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias, Owen Miller and Joey Cantillo. All made an impact for the big-league club except Cantillo, still a highly regarded lefty pitcher who has battled injuries in the minors.
Naylor has been the prize. A year ago, he hit .308 with 17 homers and 97 RBI. He has 7 homers and 26 RBI in 31 games this year. All the others helped Cleveland keep playing well without entering the rebuild that the Marlins are facing.
