The San Diego Padres are reportedly close to acquiring second baseman Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins in a trade. Arraez, a two-time All-Star and batting champion, is currently batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games for the Marlins this season. The Padres are giving up reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee, and Nathan Martorella in the deal.
Arraez's acquisition comes as a boost to the Padres' lineup, who are currently in second place in the NL West with a record of 16-18. The team has been looking for a left-handed hitting weapon since trading Juan Soto to the New York Yankees during the offseason.
The Marlins, on the other hand, have had a disappointing start to their season with a record of 9-24 and the worst record in the National League East. The trade marks the beginning of their teardown process under new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix.
Arraez was Miami's best player last season, leading the team with a .354 batting average and earning his second consecutive All-Star selection. He also won the AL batting title in 2022 before being traded to the Marlins for Pablo Lopez.
The Padres plan to use Arraez as their designated hitter, but they may cycle through the position with Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts, and Manny Machado also getting at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the team's starting second baseman.
Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. He appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12 ⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres' bullpen out of spring training.
Head was the Padres' first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-A.
Martorella is batting .294 with an .282 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft.
Marsee, a 21-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2021 out of Central Michigan.