Brandon Brown
The Miami Marlins traded second baseman Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres in exchange for outfield prospects Dillon Head and Jakob Marsee, 1B/OF prospect Nathan Martorella and minor league reliever Woo-suk Go, the team announced Saturday. The Marlins will also receive nearly all of Arraez’s remaining salary. He was scheduled to earn $10.6 million in total this year.
Arraez, 27, has won two consecutive batting titles, one with the Twins in the American League in 2022 and then a second with the Marlins in the National League last season. In 2024, Arraez is slashing .299/.347/.372 in 33 games with Miami. For his career, Arraez batted .324/.377/.423 (122 OPS+) with 24 home runs over parts of six major league seasons. Although Arraez lacks power, he is one of the best contact hitters of his generation, and his offense is very good by middle infielder standards. He’s a two-time All-Star and is more than just a Padres rental, as Arraez isn’t scheduled to be a free agent until after the 2025 season.
It’s unclear what role Arraez will play in San Diego, beyond improving the lineup. Xander Bogaerts, who is in the second year of a $280 million free agent contract, is the primary second baseman. It’s hard to imagine Bogaerts will resign himself to limited duty, even though he has struggled at the plate so far in 2024. Given that Manny Machado has been the Pads’ primary DH this season, Arraez could see time at third base or perhaps slot in at DH and pushes Machado back to his usual position. At the very least, his presence gives first-year coach Mike Shildt some flexibility in the infield.
On the Marlins side, Head is probably the key piece of the deal. The 25th overall pick out of Illinois junior college last year, the 19-year-old Head has a .726 OPS in 48 pro games spread over two seasons. He was in the California League this season and spent most of his time in center field. Here’s what CBS Sports wrote about Head at the time he was drafted:
“Head may be the fastest player in the draft, having posted a better 60-yard dash time than Enrique Bradfield Jr. at the same stage of his development. He leverages that speed, plus his above-average arm strength, into high-quality center field defense While evaluators may feel confident in that aspect of his game, he offers a wider range of potential offensive outputs. Illinois.
Marsee, 22, is a former sixth-rounder from Central Michigan. Over three seasons in the Padres’ system, he slashed .258/.406/.413 with 73 steals and 20 home runs in 182 games and as many walks as strikeouts. Marsee is currently playing in the Double-A Texas League. Martorella, 23, was a 2022 fifth-rounder against Cal. In 791 minor league games, he posted an .820 OPS with 24 home runs and 44 doubles. He was also at Double-A San Antonio this season. Finally, Go was cut from Korea this past offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander made 10 relief appearances for San Antonio with a 5.11 ERA and 15 strikeouts against four walks in 12 1/3 innings.
Early May is too close for a major trade like this, especially considering the Marlins made the playoffs last year. However, Miami’s dismal start to the season — they enter the weekend with a 9-24 record and a 13-game deficit in the NL East — prompted the Marlins’ new president of baseball operations, Peter Bendix, to start which numbers will be a deep sell-off between now and the trade deadline.
