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Luis Arráez made his first All-Star appearance with the Minnesota Twins last season, but will try to make an appearance on another team.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, this is because Minnesota reportedly traded the second baseman to the Miami Marlins on Friday team in exchange for pitcher Pablo López. Passan noted that there were “more” pieces in the deal, but Arráez and López were the headliners.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic points out that Minnesota also landed a notable prospect for infielder Jose Salas :
Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
Sources tell infielder Jose Salas and another prospect are headed to Minnesota with Pablo López @TheAthletic . According to @MLBPipeline , Salas, 19, is the No. 5 pick for the Marlins. First his entry: @CraigMish
Mark [email protected]
Byron Joliot is the second player to head to the Twins, according to sources.
Both parties have been working hard to reach such a deal.
The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports the Twins are looking to ‘improve their roster,’ eyeing potential return from Carlos Correa playoffs, and discussed acquiring López to do so. Jon Hyman of the New York Post Heyman also pointed out that Minnesota has had discussions around right-handers before.
Yet Heyman also reported that the American League Central team was reluctant to part ways with Arras.
Nonetheless, this reluctance did not prevent a deal being struck on Friday that would bring such a promising young player to Saguaro. Russ certainly helped.
The Marlins now have last season’s American League batting champion in their Arráez lineup, and his batting average Has eight homers and 49 RBIs in 144 games for .316/.375/.420. As a result, he earned a silver slugger and an All-Star selection, and even finished 13th in American League MVP voting.
It’s not entirely surprising that this is a groundbreaking endeavor for someone who isn’t necessarily a household name. He hit .334 in 92 games in 2019 and has hit .314 over four career seasons and 389 games.
He was a big loss for Minnesota, but they upgraded their starting rotation with the addition of Lopez.
The 26-year-old finished the 2022 season with a 3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 174 strikeouts over 180 innings. It was his third consecutive ERA under 4.00, and he had career highs in both innings and strikeouts.
The Twins are definitely in contention for the AL Central title, and Lopez has the edge to be a big part of the rotation. Losing someone like Arráez is never easy, but having Correa back also makes him more expendable in all-important pitching depth.
