Twins, Marlins close to trade involving Alaez, Lopez

Months of rumors about Marlins rotation finally lead to some action as Marlins trade right-hander Pablo Lopeztop infield prospects Jose Salas and outfield prospects Byron Churio To the Twins in exchange for the AL batting champion Luis Araezaccording to announcements from both clubs.

At the core of the trade is the Twins swapping 3-year Arraez for 2-season Lopez for immediate purposes, and Lopez will soon be a rotation upgrade. The 26-year-old Lopez has been at his best as a quality big-league starter over the last three seasons, posting a 3.52 ERA, 25% strikeout, 7% walk, and 47.4% ground ball percentage. 340 innings.

Lopez has dealt with several injury issues in his career, having landed on injured reserve three times due to a shoulder strain.The most recent of these three injuries was in 2021. That summer, it erased more than two months of Lopez’s season, but in 2022 he pitched a career-high 180 innings in 32 starts and was injury-free. Last year’s performance allowed Lopez to earn his $5.45 million salary, which is still very affordable. He’ll need one more raise in arbitration in the 2023-24 offseason before reaching free agency following the 2024 campaign — no extension, of course.

Newly acquired Lopez will be in the Twins rotation including: Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan When Tyler MurrayAlthough it was easy to wonder if Lopez could push Kenta Maeda The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, who has switched to a bullpen role after having internal brace surgery on his right elbow in September 2021 and missing the entire 2022 season. Tweet Maeda remains in the starting lineup.

The most likely odd number in the traditional 5-man rotation is 27 bailey over, but the towering right-hander pitched to a sharp 3.82 ERA in 31 starting his big league career, including a 3.21 mark in 56 innings last season. (Over missed more than three months due to a severe groin strain. Injury throughout the 2022 season.

On the other hand, with Alaez out of the Twins’ lineup, the Twins will lose one of their best hitters and one of their primary options for first base and designated hitter, the leadoff man.His exit likely opens door to 25-year-old Alex Kirillov Slot in as primary first baseman. Former first-round pick Kirillov, who was ranked among the 10-15 prospects in the sport before his big-league debut, now has wrist surgeries every past two seasons, putting him at risk of injury. You are derailed from the beginning of your career. There are considerable advantages, but also considerable risks. There’s always the chance the Twins will add another established hitter to soften the blow of losing Ares, but the first base and DH markets in free agency are largely selected, so that’s what they choose. If you’re root, you’ll probably have to come through another deal.

On the other side of the exchange, the Marlins got a left-handed bat to help balance out a very right-handed lineup. Bringing perhaps the most impeccable bat-to-ball skills to Miami. Although a high clip percentage, Arraez’s 8.7% mark is still higher than both his strikeout percentage and his 8.2% walk percentage, league average last season.

Arraez, who turned 26 in April, will hit .316/.375/.420 in 2022, hit a career-high eight home runs in 2022, and hit .314/. 374/.410 batting average. His contact skills are second to none and he is likely to hit high averages all the time, but the rest of his game is pretty limited. According to Statcast, Arraez lacks power, evidenced by a career ISO of .096 (slugging percentage minus batting average), and his average sprint speed is below average.

He debuted as a second baseman, but defensive struggles left Alaez something of a positionless nomad. He bounced between second base, first base, third base, and left field, delivering lackluster defensive results at each spot other than first base. He primarily played second base for Miami, and general his manager Kim Nung later announced: Jazz Chisholm Jr. It is a transfer to the middle field.

Like Lopez, Alaez has some worrying injury issues on his resume. His 2017 season has seen him on the injured list three times since the opening game of 2020 due to his torn ACL during his time as a prospect. It also causes knee problems. Arraez also spent a week in 7-day concussion IL in 2021, missing almost three weeks of that season due to a shoulder strain.

Arraez has qualified for arbitration for the second time this offseason and, as a Super 2 player, still has two years of arbitration remaining beyond his current campaign. He and the Twins failed to reach an agreement by last week’s deadline for exchanging arbitration figures. The Twins applied for his $5 million and the Arraez camp matched with his $6.1 million. Now that he’s joined a new team, Arraez could agree to a one-year deal with him somewhere in between those points, or even discuss a longer deal, if not his subsequent arbitration. A salary increase by the club will bring his salary to over $10 million by his final year of club management in 2025.

For the Marlins, taking Lopez out of the rotation will allow them to place their starting five. sandy alcantara, Jesus Luzaldo, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera When Braxton Garrett, with some interesting arms still waiting in the back wings of that quintet. Araez has deepened and strengthened the lackluster Miami lineup, and the depth of the organization’s rotation is strong enough to withstand the loss of Lopez.

But the Arraez acquisition and last week’s Miguel RojasMarlins look ready to play now Joey Wendle At shortstop, Chisholm will have to learn a brand new center field position on the fly. All in all, the ploy of dropping Rojas and adding Alaez in the name of balancing and improving the lineup has the unfortunate side effect of dropping Miami from the middle of defensive clubs to one of the worst clubs in the National League. There is a possibility.

Both contract prospects are long-term play for the Twins, making for a somewhat interesting side note for a team that is clearly bidding for immediate contention following the impressive deal of re-signing. Carlos CorreaThat said, recent trades such as Mare and Gray have thinned the Twins’ system considerably, so backfilling young talent will help them straddle the constructed line in both the short and long term. .

Salas is particularly well-regarded, initially earning a $2.8 million bonus and currently ranked #4 in Miami’s system at Baseball America. He’s a shortstop for now, but BA scouts his report suggests a move to third base is possible depending on how much his still-slender build grows. Switch His hitting Salas has a .250/.339/.384 batting average against very old contestants in 2022, and even though he just turned 19 in April Regardless, he split the year between Class A and Class A Advanced.

Salas hit nine home runs and had 33 bases in 109 games. Salas’ scout report touts his work ethic, sense of touch, and at least average power potential. Adds no value to the club in 2023 (other than perhaps being more flexible in terms of negotiating additional trades).

Churio is even younger, having just signed as an amateur from Venezuela a year and five days ago. Despite playing a season at just 17 years old, the switch-hitting outfielder took the Dominican Summer League by storm, posting .344/.429/.410 clips with home runs, nine doubles, 19 steals, and almost Scored in the same number of bases (25) as strikeouts (27) in 217 at-bats.

Churio won’t turn 18 until May, so even the most optimistic projections suggest it could be three years before he’s a legitimate big-league prospect, and it could be even longer than that. Baseball America’s Ben Badler, in addition to his eye-catching pro debut, won the Marlins’ international contract class last year. In our review, we praised Churio for his physical projection, powerful throwing arm, centerfield instincts, and balanced swing.

Today’s trade puts an end to months of speculation and rumors about Lopez, who finally knows where he will spend at least the next two seasons of his career. Given Miami’s thickness and needs elsewhere on its roster, it’s still possible that Miami could use more of that group to bolster their lineup and reshape their increasingly questionable defense. Lopez isn’t clearly better than any of the in-house options, but he adds another mid-rotation arm to an equally talented starting staff, protects against injury, and adds some Consistency after this season where Gray, Mare and Maeda can each become free agents. They’ll also replenish the farm system, which has been strained by recent deals, but swaps feel more like the next step than the final piece of the offseason puzzle.

First Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes report The two teams were heading towards a deal involving Arraez and Lopez. ESPN’s Jeff Passan report A transaction has been made. SportsGrid’s Craig Mish and Miami Herald have reported the names of two of his prospects returning to Minnesota (twitter Link).