Reports: Padres Acquire Luis Arraez For Four Prospects
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According to multiple reports, and first reported by Jeff Passan, the San Diego Padres are acquiring second baseman Luis Arraez from the Marlins in return for four prospects. Craig Mish reports that the prospects will be Dillon Head, Woo-Suk Go and Nathan Martorella. Jakob Marsee is also in the deal, according multiple reports.
Padres Get
Luis Arraez, 2B
Age: 27
A two-time batting champion (2022 and 2023), Arraez is one of the best pure hitters in baseball. He’s a career .324 hitter who is hitting .299 this year, which qualifies as a slow start for him. Arraez’s offensive value is closely tied to his batting average. He doesn’t walk that much and his career high in home runs is 10, but when you can hit .315 or better most every year, the rest doesn’t matter all that much. Arraez has been playing second base almost exclusively in Miami, but with Xander Bogaerts established there, he will likely get to play first base and DH more often in San Diego. That will help reduce the pressure on his glove, as he’s a below-average defender at second.
Marlins Get
Dillon Head, OF
Age: 19
Head ranked as the Padres No. 8 prospect. He is one of the Padres’ seemingly never-ending supply of toolsy center fielders. He’s a plus-plus runner who has a long ways to go to reach his lofty ceiling, but he has a chance to hit for average with fringy power. If his defense and speed plays as expected, that could make him a valuable regular. Head is currently playing at Low-A Lake Elsinore where he was hitting .242/.324/.374. He has only three steals in seven attempts, but he should be able to eventually be a valuable basestealer.
Jakob Marsee, OF
Age: 22
Marsee ranked as the Padres No. 12 prospect. He is a well-rounded outfielder without a lot of plus tools, but he has five tools that rate as fringe-average or better. He is an average runner, but he swiped 41 bases last year and 12 in 13 tries in 22 games this year. Marsee is off to a slow start–he was hitting .185/.337/.333 for Double-A San Antonio at the time of the trade. He projects as a fourth outfielder who can play multiple outfield spots, but he’s had a habit of exceeding expectations throughout his career.
Nathan Martorella, 1B
Age: 23
Martorella ranked as the Padres No. 18 prospect. He is a stocky first baseman who has a lengthy track record of getting on-base. A fifth-round pick out of California in 2022, Martorella is a .266/.370/.438 career MiLB hitter. At Double-A San Antonio this season, he was hitting .294/.392/.435 with two home runs. Martorella is a line-drive hitter with occasional power that’s generally more doubles than home runs. He’s best at first base because of his slow feet and well below-average speed. He profiles as a bench bat or up-and-down hitter, but with enough feel for hitting to maybe surprise and exceed that projection.
Woo-Suk Go, RHP
Age: 25
Go was an elite closer in Korea, but so far he’s still getting established in the U.S. He was pitching at Double-A San Antonio at the time of this trade. He signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal last offseason, but was sent to the minors after he gave up 11 hits and nine runs in just five innings this spring. He’s currently 0-2, 4.38 with a 28% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate. Go has an average fastball, a downer curveball that will flash above-average and a below-average cutter. He projects as a lower-leverage reliever.