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HOW THREE SMART TRADES HAVE HELPED THE MARLINS’ OFFENSE | MIAMI HERALD

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Wednesday, June 14, 2023

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MIAMI MARLINS


HOW MARLINS PARLAYED 2 PLAYERS OUT OF BASEBALL AND 2 RELIEVERS INTO 3 OF 4 BEST
’23 BATS

By Barry Jackson and

Craig Mish Senior Baseball Correspondent

Updated June 13, 2023 10:52 AM
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Luis Arráez tiene mil papeletas para hacer historia en septiembre.
Independientemente de si el venezolano batea para .400 este año, su desempeño
ofensivo viene llamando la atención más allá de los confines del loanDepot park.
D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com


While several Marlins free agent pickups haven’t paid dividends in recent years,
a handful of savvy trades have helped catapult Miami into playoff contention.

Deals with St. Louis for Sandy Alcantara (part of a package for Marcell Ozuna)
and with Arizona for Jazz Chisholm Jr. (in exchange for Zach Gallen) have been
well-documented.

Here’s a look at three others deals, and how they have become big wins for the
organization:


LUIS ARRAEZ

Acquired in January for Pablo Lopez and Jose Salas, Arraez has not only met but
exceeded expectations, flirting with .400 through the first 67 games of the
season. (He stood at .391 after Monday’s loss at Seattle).

To put in perspective what Arraez is doing, consider — as MLB Network’s Brian
Kenny noted — that no player has even finished a season at .350 in the past
decade.



Arraez’s. 326 batting average and .384 on-base percentage through 450 career
games are better than Tony Gwynn’s through 450 games (.324, .375).

Several players have made a run at .400 through the years, but nobody has done
it since Ted Williams in 1941.

Gwynn came the closest during the past 30 years — .394 in 1994 — but played only
110 games that year because of a work stoppage.

George Brett was hitting .400 on Sept. 19 in 1980 but closed at .390.



Hall of Famer and seven-time American League batting champion Rod Carew, who hit
.388 in 1977, recently said on Twitter that what Arraez “is doing, whether he
ends the season above .400 or not, is very impressive. The pressure to swing for
the fences and not care about strikeouts is overwhelming. He is doing what he
does best and at an ELITE level. Other players should take note.”

Lopez has been fine for the Twins — a 4.25 ERA in 13 starts — but Arraez’s
impact on the Marlins lineup has spearheaded the team’s surprising 37-30 start.

Looking back even further, keep in mind that then-Marlins president of baseball
operations Michael Hill acquired Lopez for journeyman relief pitcher David
Phelps in 2017. Outfield prospect Brayan Hernandez was considered the best among
four prospects acquired by the Marlins in that deal. Hernandez last played in
the minors in 2019.



Phelps retired in January after a solid 10-year career. But by acquiring Lopez
in the trade for Phelps, the Marlins essentially turned a retired relief pitcher
into Arraez, who should be a perennial contender for the batting title, having
already one won in Minnesota last year. Arraez is under team control through
2025.


BRYAN DE LA CRUZ

An organization that has struggled to develop outfielders through their farm
system, in recent years, has smartly snagged two good, young ones in trades: De
La Cruz and Jesus Sanchez.

De La Cruz was hitting well for the Astros’ Triple A affiliate in 2021 (.272 AB,
12 HR, 50 RBI, 324 on base) when the Marlins acquired him at the trade deadline
for reliever Yimi Garcia.

Though some scouts projected him as a fourth or fifth outfielder, De La Cruz has
proven to be more than that, hitting. 290 (.343 on base) with eight homers and
35 RBI through his first 63 games this season. Hitting coach Brant Brown has
helped polish his approach at the plate.



Garcia struggled with the Astros, was dumped after that 2021 season and has a
5.53 ERA in Toronto’s bullpen this season.

That trade was an overwhelming win for Miami.


JESUS SANCHEZ

The Marlins essentially turned a player who is out of baseball (Brian Schales)
and a journeyman starter-turned-reliever (Trevor Richards) into an outfielder
(Sanchez) who has 33 homers in his first 214 big-league games and is much
improved this season (.270 batting average, .352 on base through Monday).

Here’s how that happened:

In 2019, the Marlins flipped Schales — a light-hitting 2014 fourth-round pick —
to Minnesota for relief pitcher Nick Anderson, whom the Twins were not
interested in putting on their 40 man roster.

With Schales fizzled and never played again after 2019, Anderson became a
revelation for the Marlins, striking out 69 in 43 innings for the Marlins in
2019.



With Tampa Bay in the hunt for a playoff berth and needing bullpen help, the
Rays sent Sanchez, one of their better position prospects, and reliever Ryne
Stanek to the Marlins for Anderson and Richards.

Anderson was very good for Tampa Bay before sustaining myriad arm injuries and
is now pitching for Atlanta (3.20 ERA). Richards has a 3.30 ERA for Toronto this
season. The Marlins released Stanek after 32 largely forgettable appearances
(6.03 ERA) and he now pitches for Houston, with a 4.57 ERA in 2023.

But the deal has been a good one for Miami: Sanchez is enjoying the best stretch
of his career, posting an OPS over .900, and has given Miami hope he can be a
force against right-handed pitching moving forward.



There have been other recent trades that have yielded positive returns -
Starling Marte (who likely would have been lost in free agency anyway) for Jesus
Luzardo, among others.

But the aforementioned three stand out because ultimately Miami parlayed two
players now out of baseball -- and two merely decent veteran relievers -- into
three of their four best position players this season (Arraez, De La Cruz and
Sanchez). Jorge Soler, signed as a free agent, has been the other top-four
Marlins hitter this year.


PEREZ DECISION

The Marlins organization has been conflicted about whether to send rookie
right-hander and top prospect Eury Perez to the minors when Trevor Rogers is
ready to be activated off a rehab assignment in the next week or so.

There are mixed views internally on that issue. But all key Marlins officials
are in agreement that Perez should not double his workload this season.

Perez pitched 78 minor-league innings as a rookie in 2021 and 77 in the minors
last season.

He already has pitched 60 innings this season — 31 for Pensacola and 29 for the
Marlins.



In six starts for each team this year, he has a lower ERA for the Marlins (2.17)
than in Double A (2.32).

The Marlins are comfortable with allowing him to pitch 100 to 120 innings this
season. But if he stays in the rotation in Miami and averages six innings per
start, he might have only eight more starts before needing to be shut down for
the year.

By sending Perez to the minors, they could start him once a week or 10 days and
keep alive the option of promoting him to the big leagues later this summer if
the Marlins remain in the playoff race and need him.



So even though the idea of sending down Perez after an exceptional debut might
seem odd, there’s sound reasoning behind it – if the Marlins go in that
direction.

The left-handed Rogers, who has been sidelined since April 20 with a biceps
strain, did not make a scheduled rehab start for Jacksonville on Saturday
because of an issue involving his right shoulder. He had an MRI on that
non-throwing shoulder and will be further evaluated.


TRADE TALK

The Marlins — who entered the Seattle series tied for the third best record in
the National League — expect to be buyers at the trade deadline, but it does not
appear Royals catcher/designated hitter Salvador Perez will be a target.

Perez — who entered the week hitting .273 with 13 homers and 36 RBI — told the
Miami Herald last week that he has no intention of leaving Kansas City. Perez
has been in the big leagues 10 years, and five with the same team; that gives
Perez the right to veto any trade.



Perez also reiterated to a group of reporters in San Diego that he had no
interest in playing elsewhere. Unless something changes with Perez, or the
Royals, he doesn’t appear to be a target for Miami behind the plate. The Marlins
have monitored the catching market; Nick Fortes and Jacob Stallings have hit
better recently but Miami remains open to an upgrade if a realistic one
surfaces.


PROSPECT OUT

Marlins left-hander Dax Fulton — the team’s second-round pick in 2020 and the
No. 4 prospect in the team’s system, per MLB.com --- will undergo UCL repair
surgery on his left elbow and likely will miss the rest of the season, per a
source.

UCL repair is not full reconstruction, like Tommy John surgery. So the Marlins
are hopeful he will be ready for spring training next year.

Fulton underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 while in high school in Mustang,
Oklahoma.

Fulton has a 5.18 ERA in six appearances at Pensacola this season and 4.27 ERA
over parts of three minor league seasons.



If Miami is interested in moving a minor-league arm at the trade deadline, they
will likely need to dangle someone else.

One of those arms could be right-handed starter Evan Fitterer, the team’s
fifth-round pick in 2019. Fitterer, 22, has a 3.50 ERA in 11 starts for High A
Beloit and Pensacola.

Herald senior baseball correspondent Craig Mish hosts Newswire from 11 a.m. to
noon weekdays on Sportsgrid. Follow him on Twitter at @CraigMish. Follow Barry
Jackson at @flasportsbuzz



This story was originally published June 13, 2023, 10:41 AM.




BARRY JACKSON

twitter facebook email phone 305-376-3491
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the
Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.




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By Jordan McPherson

June 14, 2023 12:29 AM
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