What exactly did the Marlins get for Luis Arraez?

On Friday night, the Marlins made a huge statement. At 9-24 with already the second-worst offense in baseball, Miami struck a deal to trade arguably the most consistent bat in their lineup, signifying themselves as sellers and kicking off what will likely be their most recent teardown. Reported originally by Jeff Passan, two-time batting champion Luis Arraez departed the Oakland Coliseum for San Diego. Around Minor League Baseball, several prospects in the Padres organization were removed from their games, some amidst confusion.

Soon, four players would know their new destination: Miami.

It’s painful for the Marlins organization to lose one of their most productive and most well-liked players over the past two seasons. Further contributing to the damaging optics of the deal, the Marlins are paying the overwhelming majority of Arraez's $10.6M salary this season while he pursues postseason contention with another club. However, for a team on pace to lose 100+ games while owning a bottom-tier farm system, there is an obligation to move on from a player with decreasing club control while he is still a viable asset.

What exactly did the Marlins get in return for the All-Star infielder and did they maximize value? On Saturday afternoon, Peter Bendix said the deal was “too good for us to walk past”. Here’s a look at why they think so.

OF Dillon Head

MiLB Career: .253/.342/.384, 2 HR, 7 SB, 44/24 K/BB

At 19, Head is the youngest piece in the return for Miami. Peter Bendix describes him as being the furthest away from the majors but the player with the most upside in the package. A first-round pick by the Padres last year out of his Illinois high school, Head has decent size with for his age (6”, 185) and projects to get larger. A lefty-swinging/lefty-throwing outfielder, by far his most polished tool is his speed which is graded at the top of the 20-80 scale by MLB Pipeline. In 2022, Head ran a 6.22 60-yard dash. That high school season, he stole 23 bases in 22 games. Ahead of the draft, Head ran a 6.3 second 60-yard dash. He was a career .485 high school hitter.

Head broke into pro ball last in the Arizona Complex League produced some solid initial results, slashing .263/,363/.400 before getting the call to Low-A upon the summation of the ACL schedule. There, he collected 13 more hits in 54 ABs. Back at Low-A this season, Head is off to a .237/.317/.366 start.

Looking at his underlying peripherals, a few things stand out about Head at the plate this season: his ground ball rate has decreased significantly and he is hitting the ball in the air more, but hasn’t been finding the open field. Head has not been unlucky (.313 BABIP), just incapable of consistently hitting the ball very hard thus far. He also has a 24% K rate and has struggled with above-average breaking stuff especially when it's down and away. As Head continues to grow, he will need to avoid trying to force power and instead come by it more naturally while also taking what he can get and letting his speed go to work for him. With good bat speed and plenty of physical projection left, there’s plenty of room for Head to put polish on raw tools as the years go on.

In the outfield, Head has a slightly above-average arm and can cover all the ground necessary with ease, but his initial reads off the bat and route-running need some work. How he develops as a center fielder will be equally important to the work he puts in at the plate.

Head isn’t a sure-fire star prospect but because of his raw athleticism and the potential for at least four out of five tools when it’s all said and done capitulated by his strong amateur career, he has a lot on his side as he plays in his age-19 season. He will come to the team as a top 5 organizational prospect.

OF Jakob Marsee

MiLB Career: .256/.405/.410, 20 HR, 73 SB, 146/147 K/BB

Marsee is a 2022 Padres sixth-round draftee from Central Michigan who hit .310/.434/.475 with 91 walks and 82 strikeouts in his collegiate career. So far in his pro career, he’s continued the trend of walking more than striking out. Last year between High-A and Double-A, Marsee walked 82 times to his 81 strikeouts. When Marsee did swing the bat, he found consistent success as he slashed .286/.412/.446. His 134 wRC+ ranked third in the Padres organization. After the season was over, Marsee took his talents to the Arizona Fall League where he was named league MVP.

This season, Marsee has been horribly unlucky in AA accounting for his low slash numbers so far. His BABIP sits at just .217.

Marsee is determined to lift the ball as much as possible. While not necessarily a weakness, pitchers will attack the outer half of the plate when he falls into a pattern of getting too pull-happy. How he adapts to that could spell the difference between him becoming a fourth outfielder or starting outfielder. 

Marsee owns above-average speed and the ability to handle all three outfield spots. He shouldn’t have an issue sticking in center field.

Overall, Marsee’s extremely disciplined plate presence and approach and sneaky solid tools make him a consistent gap-to-gap on-base threat. The 22-year-old lefty could contribute to Miami sooner rather than later. He’s the most polished position player in this return.

1B Nathan Martorella

MiLB Career: .269/.373/.446, 24 HR, 8 SB, 139/114 K/BB

Another lefty with gaudy on-base numbers, Martorella is a solid mix of power, patience and offensive projection. A three-year collegiate draftee out of California, Martorella broke into pro ball alongside Marsee. The pair have followed each other through the levels and know each other well both as teammates and roommates.

A quick riser through the Padres system, Martorella made only a brief stop in Low-A in 2022 before being promoted to A+ last year. After a .259/.371/.450 campaign with Fort Wayne, Martorella made it up to AA to end 2023. He’s off to an extremely solid start to the year with San Antonio this season, slashing .292/.393/.427.

Though he is defensively limited and will likely spend most of his career at first base—he hasn’t played any other position yet this season—there is a lot to like about his offensive make-up. Like Marsee, Martorella sees pitchers from both sides extremely well and works counts very well. Always a tough guy to whiff at every level he’s played at so far, Martorella has a simplistic approach and swing; he doesn’t overdo it at the plate and exhibits natural fluid motions and an extremely quick swing that allows him to see the ball deep into zone and to fight off tough pitches, lengthening his at-bats. A guy who doesn’t waste his opportunities, his make-up as a contact-oriented lefty hitter with solid patience is similar to Troy Johnston.

One area of improvement for Martorella as he continues in the upper minors will be his ability to put the ball in the air. Last season, he had a 50% ground ball rate which wasted some of his solid quality of contact. If Martorella can stay away from hitting the top of the baseball and come by more launch, it will close the gap between his sub-40 grade game power and 55 grade power.

Martorella is defensively limited. He can fake it in the corner outfield spots, but most of his career moving forward will likely be spent at first base or DH. The timeline for his possible MLB call-up will hinge heavily on what he does at the plate. If he finds more loft and continues to show patience in the upper minors, he could contribute to the Marlins by 2025.

RHP Woo-Suk Go

MiLB Career: 12.1 IP, 4.38 ERA, 1.459 WHIP, 15/4 K/BB

The oldest piece of the return, Go signed with the Padres out of the KBO for a lucrative $4.5 million in January. Go joined San Diego after a seven-year tenure with the LG Twins. There, he was one of his league’s most consistent relievers, compiling a 3.28 ERA and 139 saves over 368 ⅓ innings. Go was optioned to AA after struggling in spring training.

Listed at 5’11”, 198 lbs. at age 25, Go anchors his arsenal with a power fastball that sits between 93-95 mph and can hit as high as 98. The biggest question mark for Go has been the development of his secondaries. He can throw a a good 12-6 curve that dips into the high 70s and a slider in the high 80s, giving him a solid velo mix and the potential to change eye levels. He also started to throw a changeup in 2023. However, since 2022, Go has largely strayed away from all of those pitches in favor of his cutter which sits in the low 90s.

The consistency and confidence Go has in his breaking stuff will be the deciding factor in how far he can go in Major League Baseball. As he continues to break into MiLB with the Marlins, he will likely be used as a middle reliever.

Grade: C

The Marlins traded away their highest-producing offensive Major League Baseball player and paid his contract down to the minimum for four prospects, none of whom (right now) are a Top 100 talent league-wide. If the Marlins committed to shopping Arraez sooner, say during the offseason or spring training, this return could have been more lucrative. The same could be said for shopping Arraez to contenders at the trade deadline.

While the timing of the trade is intriguing considering Miami thought this is the best they were going to do for Arraez’s services, they did acquire a very young player capable of reaching Top 100 status soon, two players performing well with the bat in the upper minors who could contribute to the big league club shortly, and a highly heralded arm from the international ranks. It’s a quantity over true quality return for a team that needs to address a true lack of minor league assets, especially on the offensive side of the baseball.

Interested in learning more about the Miami Marlins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!