Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing traded to Padres

Shutdown closer Tanner Scott, who was pegged as one of the Miami Marlins’ top trade candidates this year, has been dealt to the San Diego Padres in exchange for four prospects. Swingman pitcher Bryan Hoeing is also going to the Padres.

Who the Marlins are getting back

Pitchers Robby Snelling and Adam Mazur, utility man Graham Pauley, and infielder Jay Beshears.

Snelling, a 6’3" left-hander, is one of San Diego’s highest-rated prospects. A 20-year-old who’s already in Double-A, Snelling could be up as soon as next year if all goes well.

His repertoire features a low-to-mid-90s fastball, a solid curveball that generates lots of swing-and-miss, and a changeup that can use some refining.

Mazur is a 6’2" righty with a solid fastball that sits in the mid-90s and touches 97, and a tight slider, which is his best secondary pitch, sitting in the mid-80s. He also throws a changeup that has shown improvement this year, along with a curveball. The 23-year-old has made five starts in Triple-A this year.

As for Pauley, he is a bat-first player. Originally drafted and signed as a third baseman, the 23-year-old has started games at first, second, and left field.

While he understandably struggled in his short debut stint in the majors this year (4-for-32, 18 wRC+), he has had a low strikeout rate in the minors throughout his career while still generating power.

Beshears is the most raw of the prospects coming to Miami. The 22-year-old infielder has a plus-power tool, but his groundball rate has hovered around 40% in his two years of professional ball, preventing him from turning the power into home runs.

The 6’4" righty has done well to bring his strikeout rate down. Defensively, he needs to improve his arm strength if he wants to stick on the left side of the infield.

Scott’s run in Miami

The Marlins originally acquired the left-hander in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles just days before the 2022 regular season kicked off.

Scott’s first go-around in Miami was marked by poor control and a walk rate that put him in the bottom-one percent of pitchers, walking 15.9 percent of batters he faced. He converted on 20 of his 27 save opportunities in that first year.

Scott’s 2023 season is what really put him on the radar as one of the league’s premier relievers. Beginning the season as a middle reliever, Scott watched as trade acquisitions A.J. Puk and David Robertson struggled in their closing roles. Finally, as the calendar turned from August to September, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker appointed Scott as the team’s closer.

In those 16 games as the closer, Scott converted on 10 of his 12 save opportunities and recorded a 1.42 ERA. Opposing hitters put up a .177 batting average against him. The then-29-year-old recorded the final out in Miami’s NL Wild Card-clinching victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 30.

Most notably, Scott’s walk rate throughout 2023 was the lowest of his career, cratering to 7.8 percent.

One thing that has stayed consistent throughout Scott’s time in Miami has been his swing-and-miss stuff thanks to his fastball-slider repertoire. He has consistently been in the top ten percent of pitchers in strikeout rate while in Miami, peaking at 33.9 percent last year.

In 2024, Scott has been the most dominant reliever in the National League, and perhaps even the majors. Looking under the hood of his already impressive 1.18 ERA, Scott has only allowed one or more earned runs in three of his 44 appearances. The last time he gave up an earned run was on June 13 against the New York Mets. 

While his walk rate has regressed back up to 14.8 percent this year, much of those control issues were concentrated in March/April (21.3 BB%). Since May began, he has had only two games with multiple walks.

Scott is currently in his last year of arbitration before he becomes a free agent this offseason. He won his arbitration case in spring training this year for $5.7 million.

About a dozen teams were in pursuit of Scott leading up to the deadline, Craig Mish reported for the Miami Herald. Jon Heyman of the New York Post linked the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners to him. The New York Mets expressed interest as well, per FanSided's Robert Murray. The Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees had the leading bids as of trade deadline eve, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic. Heyman describes the Dodgers as one of the finalists in the bidding war.

Hoeing was a 2019 Marlins draft pick. In 57 appearances (10 starts) with the big league club, he posted a 5.48 ERA, 5.11 FIP and 1.39 WHIP. The 2024 season was easily his best in terms of results, plus he showed the versatility to contribute in a wide variety of game situations, including pitching on back-to-back days.

San Diego has club control over Hoeing through 2028.