The Twins have traded American League batting champ Luis Arraez to the Marlins for starting pitcher Pablo Lopez and two prospects: Jose Salas, an infielder, and Byron Chourio, an outfielder.
On first look, this will be a very unpopular trade among Twins fans as Arraez was one of the team’s most beloved players. When my sources leaked early this week that Arraez was on the block in a potential Lopez trade, there was a tangible backlash on Twins Twitter. However, that rumor suggested that the Marlins were asking for prospects in addition to Arraez, instead of kicking in some of their own. So, while nobody wants to see Luis go, for a team that is seriously struggling in the pitching department, this trade might just provide a lot of value.
Before we go any further, let’s examine what we got:
Pablo Lopez – Lopez is a right handed starter heading into his sixth year in the majors. He has a career ERA under 4.00 and a career strikeouts per nine innings of 8.6. Walks have been a little high and injuries have been a problem, but he’s a fine number 3 starter. Nothing more, nothing less.
Jose Salas – Salas is a top 100 prospect in baseball and was a top 5 prospect in the Miami organization. He’ll likely slot in as the fourth ranked prospect in the Twins organization. He’s a left side of the infield guy that is solid all-around and is someone the Twins will be hoping can develop an elite skill in the next few years. He’s a big get. He’s 19 and has played as high as High-A.
Byron Chourio – Chourio, only 17, is a long way away from the majors, so it’s a little hard to project what he’ll turn into. He’s played well at the very lowest levels of pro baseball, but he’s not even fully grown yet. He’s a center fielder for now and seems to hit well; that’s about all we know. Also his name sounds like cheerio.
Okay, so that’s what we got for the AL batting champ? Yeah, and I kind of think it works. Just to be clear, this trade does not make the team better in 2023. But, the team needed pitching and cashed in on Arraez’ value when it was at its highest by grabbing Lopez and a few prospects. As I mentioned in my Correa article 10 days ago, the Twins’ strategy should be to maximize their competition window while Buxton and Correa are around. Being overly concerned about this year was never the move.
And, as much as we all love Arraez, he’s not as great a long-term asset as he seems because he can’t play anywhere on defense, he has injury issues, and he has no power. Hitting for a high average is only so valuable. IF Lopez can be a consistent third starter over the next few years, he just might have more value than Arraez if the average slips even a little bit.
As for the prospects, they may or may not pan out, but replenishing what was a sneaky not-great system feels a lot better than pulling from it more. This extra depth may also make it easier to deal an Austin Martin type for a major league arm.
At the end of the day, when we come to terms with the fact that Luis Arraez was more popular than he was valuable long term, this trade looks pretty good, even if it doesn’t feel good.
loonstatesports.com 