Padres Acquire Adam Frazier From Pirates In Exchange For Tucupita Marcano, 2 Others

The Padres acquired all-star second baseman Adam Frazier Sunday night from the Pirates, fortifying their lineup as they try to keep pace in the National League West.

San Diego is sending three players to Pittsburgh: INF Tucupita Marcano, OF Jack Suwinski and RHP Michell Miliano. Pittsburgh is also reportedly sending $1.4 million in cash to the Padres. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report the trade.

Acquiring Frazier is yet another aggressive move by San Diego under AJ Preller’s stewardship and the second significant deal between the two teams this year. Pittsburgh also netted a return of five players in January as part of a three-team deal that sent RHP Joe Musgrove back to the Padres.

Frazier, who is signed through the end of next season, led all of baseball in hits (125) through 97 games and is in the midst of a breakout year in his age-29 season.

The Padres now have both starting middle infielders from this month's All-Star Game, and can now trot out a potential infield of:

1B Jake Cronenworth, All-Star
2B Adam Frazier, All-Star
SS Fernando Tatis Jr., All-Star
3B Manny Machado, All-Star
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) July 25, 2021

PIRATES ACQUIRE

Tucupita Marcano, INF
Age: 21

Marcano was set to rank as San Diego’s No. 7 prospect in our midseason update. And while the Padres’ system has thinned a bit, Marcano quickly hit his way into a brief bench role this season in San Diego, where he batted .182 in 25 games. Marcano has otherwise spent all year at Triple-A El Paso, hitting .272/.367/.444 in his first extended action in the upper minors. Marcano’s simple, direct stroke and an advanced approach allows him to pile up hits in bunches. Power will never be a leading part of his game, but Marcano has added a bit of strength this year and his six homers at Triple-A represent a career high, even if it’s in a hitter-friendly environment. Marcano is a plug-and-play type who has bounced around defensively, capable at multiple infield spots, and even began seeing action in corner outfield positions.

Jack Suwinski, OF
Age: 22

Suwinski is a bit of a riser this year and was set to rank No. 23 on the Padres’ midseason list after never previously ranking among the system’s Top 30 prospects. San Diego initially popped Suwinski as a cold-weather 15th-round pick in 2016 out of an Illinois high school, then signed him for $550,000. Scouts have always liked his lefthanded bat, and he showed a more compact swing this year. In turn, Suwinski appears to have unlocked his above-average raw power more consistently, posting a 154 wRC+ and a career-best 15 homers through 66 games. Suwinski is an average runner and defender. It’s plausible he could get a shot at center field reps, but left field seems to be the more likely long-term defensive fit. Suwinski has struggled to consistently hit lefthanded pitching (.232 average this year) and projects as a potential platoon option in the big leagues.

Michell Miliano, RHP
Age: 21

After spending parts of three seasons in rookie ball prior to baseball’s shutdown a year ago, Miliano began 2021 at Low-A and had sustained success for the first time in his career as a member of Lake Elsinore’s bullpen. The 6-foot-3 righty used his funky delivery and plus stuff to strike out 52 batters in 25.2 innings before earning a promotion to High-A. Miliano’s fastball is 91-95 mph with the potential to touch even a tick or two higher, and he pairs it with a 12-6 curveball that flashes plus. He also occasionally mixes in a fringe-average changeup. Miliano has struggled to consistently throw strikes and this year is no exception: He’s walking 7.8 batters per nine innings across two levels. Even so, the stuff is good enough to where he could potentially become an impact reliever if he can continue to harness his strike-throwing.

PADRES ACQUIRE

Adam Frazier, 2B
Age: 29

Frazier is enjoying a career-best season in a number of categories. In addition to leading the majors in hits, he was third in average entering Sunday (.327) and his strikeout percentage (10.6%) was fourth lowest among qualified hitters. Yes, his .362 BABIP suggests some regression could be coming and he doesn’t hit the ball overly hard according to Statcast data, but Frazier fits the mold of a versatile, contact-oriented lefthanded bat that the Padres seem to covet. He mostly manned second base for the Pirates but he has experience playing all three outfield positions. Jayce Tingler now has another Swiss Army Knife he can deploy at several different positions and spots in the lineup.