NEWSLETTER
LUIS ARRAEZ TRADED — Never underestimate the aggressiveness of Padres President AJ Preller or the willingness-to-be-awful of the Miami Marlins. Tonight, those two forces came together to deliver – by far – the biggest, early-season trade I can remember.
Luis Arraez Traded to San Diego
Luis Arraez is reportedly headed to San Diego for a package of three prospects (Padres #6, #9, and #13) and a reliever. I am in disbelief.
Those four players heading to Miami for Luis Arraez, according to Craig Mish:
It would have been nice if the Marlins could have completed this trade BEFORE coming to town and splitting a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs (and also not three days before the Padres start a series at Wrigley Field, but … alas).
Luis Arraez hasn’t been quite as productive as usual this year, but mostly because his slugging is down (.372 with a .073 ISO). He’s still hitting for a high average (.299) and getting on-base (.347) enough to be an above average hitter overall (108 wRC+). And he’s still basically never striking out. And although for the season, Arraez’s contact quality is weaker than normal (leading to low exit velocities and little power), he does seem to be turning it around lately, slashing .338/.347/.419 (118 wRC+) over his last 76 PAs.
I think he’s probably a pretty safe bet to be productive the rest of the year.
Also of note: Arraez, 27, is under control the rest of this season ($10.6M for the year) and next year via arbitration. He’ll hit free agency after that.
As for the broader conversation here, I mean. Wow. What the hell. We all KNEW the Marlins (9-24) sell-off was coming eventually, but these sort of deals – for big name players like Arraez – just never happen this early. It just takes such a perfect confluence of events and two VERY willing teams (who are not otherwise willing to risk the potential rise or fall in value closer to the deadline). But the Padres are never sitting still and if they see an avenue to improve right now, future be damned, they take it. It must be crazy to be a Padres fan.
Remember, even though they did trade away Juan Soto this offseason, they also acquired Dylan Cease. And adding Arraez to a lineup that already has some legitimate firepower isn’t completely crazy, even if the timing is (except for the fact that they have only middle-infielders on, like, their entire roster).
As for where they’ll all play, my guess is Tyler Wade is the odd man out (and maybe more DH starts for Manny Machado? He’s been doing a lot of that this year). That would allow Xander Bogaerts to move to third, Ha-Seong Kim to stay at short, and Arraez to stick at second, where he’s probably most comfortable. Fernando Tatis is already out in right, in case you forgot.
But the biggest takeaway for you, a Cubs fan? The Marlins are officially open for business. Get on the phone, NOW, Jed … and go buy us a reliever.
Oh, lastly, here’s your first official “hug”of the season. It’s May 3.
More hugs for Luis Arraez. pic.twitter.com/VcOGCOIJmT
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) May 4, 2024
