After a playoff appearance in their first season under Skip Schumaker things have quickly turned sour in 2024 for the Marlins. Their 9-25 record thus far makes it just two teams with a worse winning percentage, the Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies.
Perhaps knowing the low probability chance of their season turning around, Miami made the first big trade of the 2024 regular season. The key playing departing from Miami is 2023 NL batting title winner Luis Arraez, who is headed to San Diego in exchange for a multi-prospect haul.
Marlins traded Luis Arraez to the Padres as @JeffPassan reported. Miami. The Marlins are getting Dylan Head, Woo Suk-Go, Nathan Martorella in return. Per source.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) May 4, 2024
Fish look to be fried after Arraez is shipped out
Miami fans can't be thrilled with the decision to enter another rebuild, but it does appear they did well in this trade. The Marlins were able to pry away the Padres 6th, 9th, and 13th best prospect for a clearly declining player.
Arraez still hits for a high average, but his 108 wRC+ and pedestrian .372 slugging percentage doesn't make him a huge difference maker in a lineup. Partner that with Arraez being the worst defender in baseball if you go by OAA (-8) and FRV (-6), getting this type of haul for a DH that isn't even slugging .400 is actually a job well done of getting ahead of the curve by Miami.
While it's a savvy move now, there's no denying the Marlins got even worse at the MLB level with this transaction. Not many pundits were ready to declare Miami a NL East division contender before the season started, but even then not many of us saw things going this poorly.
Not much really changes for the Atlanta Braves after this move. Many already penciled the NL East as a two-horse race between Atlanta and Philadelphia (who have won seven straight), and Miami waving the white flag this early only further fortifies that thought.