MIAMI — The Miami Marlins on Friday swung their biggest move of the offseason to date, acquiring Minnesota Twins first baseman and defending American League batting champion Luis Arraez.
Right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez is the headliner in the trade going back to Minnesota from Miami, although the deal is not a one-for-one. Miami is also sending two prospects to Minnesota in the trade, highlighted by infielder Jose Salas, who is ranked as the club’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Outfielder prospect Byron Chourio, who played in the Dominican Summer League last year — his first in pro ball, rounds out the trade.
Trading for Arraez solves one of Miami’s main problem in securing another first baseman. Before the trade, Garrett Cooper was the only first baseman on Miami’s 40-man roster and the team was toying with the idea of either catcher Nick Fortes (who hasn’t played first base regularly since college) or outfielder Jerar Encarnacion (who has been getting some reps at first base in the minors and in winter ball) being their backup.
Arraez can also play second and third base, adding even more depth to a Marlins infield that already includes Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jean Segura, Joey Wendle and Jon Berti.
He is also a consistent hitter for a lineup that ranked among the bottom 10 in just about every major category last season.
Arraez is coming off a season in which he won the AL batting title with a .316 average to go along with a .795 OPS, 49 RBIs, 31 doubles, eight home runs and 88 runs scored over 144 games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Arraez is the first batting title winner
For his career, Arraez has a .314 batting average with a .784 OPS, 77 doubles, 14 home runs, 132 RBIs and 216 runs scored in 389 games over four seasons.
Arraez, who turns 26 in April, is under team control for three more seasons. His contract value for 2023 is set to be settled in arbitration after the Twins and Arraez did not agree on terms by Friday’s deadline. Arraez filed at $6.1 million, while the Twins filed at $5 million, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
Offensively, Arraez is known for his knack to make contact more so than power, similar to Gurriel.
He has struck out in just 8.3% of his career plate appearances and, according to Statcast, has made contact on 93.3% of balls he swings at inside the strike zone (league average is 82%) and 85% of balls he swings at outside the strike zone (league average is 58.3%). He’s a left-handed hitter as well, which sets up a proper platoon situation with Cooper.
Lopez, who turns 27 in March and is under team control for two more seasons, is coming off a breakout 2022 season in which he made all 32 of his scheduled starts for the first time in his MLB career. He finished with a 3.75 ERA over 180 innings with 174 strikeouts against 53 walks, a .234 batting average against and a 1.17 walks and hits per inning pitched mark — the latter two marks both below his career averages (.242 average, 1.19 WHIP).
Lopez became expendable when the Marlins signed veteran Johnny Cueto to a one-year deal.
Miami still has six viable candidates for its starting rotation in Sandy Alcantara, Cueto, Jesus Luzardo, Edward Cabrera, Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett with prospects Eury Perez, Sixto Sanchez (health permitting), Jake Eder, Max Meyer (out in 2023 due to Tommy John surgery) and Dax Fulton on the rise or waiting in the wings.
