/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327088/2151157703.0.jpg)
We are barely a month into the 2024 season, but one playoff team from 2023 has already shifted into sell mode, as the Miami Marlins have traded second baseman Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres for Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee, Woo-Suk Go and Nathan Martorella.
The Marlins defied expectations in finishing 84-78 in 2023 and making the playoffs as a Wild Card team. They are off to a disastrous start in 2024, however, sitting in last place in the National League East with a 9-25 record. They have a team OPS of just 611, worst in the National League, and have lost numerous pitchers to injury.
Arraez, the two time defending National League batting champion, got off to a very slow start to the season, and is currently slashing .299/.347/.372. He is making $10.6 million this year, with 2025 being his final arbitration year before being eligible for free agency.
The Marlins get quantity over quality in this deal, it would appear. The Padres signed Go, a 25 year old reliever, to a two year, $4.5 million deal out of Korea this offseason, but he has spent the 2024 season at AA so far. Head is a centerfielder who was the 25th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, currently slashing .237/.317/.366 in low-A. Marsee is a 22 year old who was the Padres’ sixth round pick out of Central Michigan University in 2022, and currently is slashing .177/.336/.318 at AA. Nathan Martorella is a 23 year old first baseman who was the Padres’ fifth round pick in 2022. He is slashing .294/.392/.435 at AA.
