MIAMI, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 18: Luis Arraez #3 of the Miami Marlins hits a single to make 200 hits … [+] for the season against the New York Mets during the first inning at loanDepot park on September 18, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
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The first major trade of the MLB season arrived last night. The Miami Marlins sent two-time batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres for four minor leaguers.
No one is more adept at putting bat to ball than Arraez. The 27-year-old second baseman has a .324 career batting average with 180 walks and only 176 strikeouts over his six-year career. His 7.5% strikeout rate is by far the best in MLB since he debuted in 2019, with no one else below 9.3%. The only other qualified players in that timeframe with more walks than strikeouts are Alex Bregman and Juan Soto.
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He led the American League with a .316 batting average for the Minnesota Twins in 2022, then was traded to Miami where he hit .354 last year. This season, he has a .299/.347/.372 slash line and has yet to hit a home run. He has a $10.6 million salary and two more years of arbitration eligibility before reaching free agency.
He will fill the Padres’ opening at designated hitter. Manny Machado was restricted to DH duties for the first few weeks of the year as he recovered from offseason surgery, but has transitioned back to his customary third base spot. Arraez is primarily a second baseman and has some experience at first base, but is a poorly-rated defender. Over his career, he has -46 Outs Above Average according to Statcast. Xander Bogaerts is the everyday second baseman in San Diego and Jake Cronenworth plays first.
Arraez will likely bat at the top of the order and provide a more conventional leadoff hitter than Jurickson Profar. That will bump a rotating cast of bench players, such as Tyler Wade and Graham Pauley, out of a regular spot in the lineup.
The Padres are 17-18, sitting in second place in the NL West. FanGraphs lists their playoff odds at 47.1%. Arraez gives them a greater offensive threat, which will bolster their chances of playing in October. It’s rare for teams to swing a major trade so early in the year, and this strengthens their roster nearly two months before trade talks intensify around the league.
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On the other side, the Marlins are 9-25. The only other teams that haven’t reached ten wins yet are the 8-24 Colorado Rockies and 6-26 Chicago White Sox. Injuries have already dashed their chances of competing this season, especially to their starting pitching. Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez will miss the entire season, and they currently have 11 players on the IL.
Still, they finished 84-78 and made the playoffs just last year. Trading Arraez signifies the front office doesn’t think this is only a one-year blip for a franchise that had been trending upward. He could’ve anchored their batting order through 2026 before reaching free agency.
The three prospects they received in return are outfielders Dillon Head and Jakob Marsee as well as first baseman Nathan Martorella. MLB Pipeline ranked them the sixth, ninth, and 13th best prospects in the Padres’ system. Head is in Low-A while Marsee and Martorella play in Double-A.
The fourth player they received is reliever Woo-Suk Go, who was included in the package to offset salary. The Padres signed him out of Korea this offseason to a two-year, $4.5 million deal, but he failed to make the club out of spring training. He has allowed seven runs and 18 baserunners in 12 1/3 innings in Double-A this year.
Prior to the trade, the Padres had a payroll of $165.5 million, but their competitive balance tax assessment was $226.7 million. Acquiring Arraez brings them much closer to the first tax threshold of $237 million. The team intends to stay under that limbo bar, which prompted the Soto trade this offseason along with their decision to let Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and several other key pitchers walk away in free agency.
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The trade is a juxtaposition of philosophies. The Padres are still adding to their roster despite their self-imposed financial restriction, striving to reach the postseason this year and beyond. Even though Miami isn’t going anywhere in 2024, they could still regroup for the 2025 season. Instead, they shed their best hitter who still had multiple years of team control. Throughout the 31-year history of the franchise, it seems that whenever they have the choice between loading up or backing down, they always choose the cheaper option.
On Wednesday, Rutgers basketball signed its fourth player from the NCAA transfer portal when San Diego transfer PJ Hayes made his commitment.
Hayes will join the Scarlet Knights for his final year of eligibility. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward from Waconia, Minnesota adds some much-needed offense to Rutgers.
Last year at San Diego, Hayes averaged 10.5 points per game, shot 42.5 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from three-point range for the Toreros.
At then No. 24 Gonzaga last year, Hayes scored 12 points and shot 38.5 percent from the field in a 101-74 loss.
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During the 2023-24 season, Hayes led San Diego in made three-pointers (73) and three-point percentage (.397). Also, he was second among his team in free throw percentage (.791) and third in scoring last season.
Rutgers adds San Diego transfer PJ Hayes – who averaged 10.5 points and shot 40 percent from 3 this past season.
The 6-6 forward played his first three seasons at Black Hills State University – where he shot 43 percent from deep.
Before transferring to San Diego, Hayes played three seasons at Black Hills State (Division II) where he shot 42.8 percent from beyond the arc. In his final season with the Yellow Jackets, he shot 45 percent from three-point range, ranking 13th in the nation.
Hayes was named to the South-Central Region All-Tournament Team as a junior, recording a 40.5 three-point percentage and 225 points in 31 games.
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Hayes brings his shooting ability to the Scarlet Knights, adding much-needed three-point shooting to Rutgers’ roster.
Service workers and patient care staff picketed at UC San Diego’s Jacobs Medical Center on Wednesday. They’re asking for higher wages and housing assistance amid ongoing contract negotiations.
The University of California and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees or AFSCME, which represents more than 30,000 university workers, have been negotiating a new contract since January.
The union said workers are struggling to afford housing, especially near university campuses.
Radiologic technologist Melissa Macario commutes from Chula Vista to La Jolla. She said the university’s wages are no longer competitive in the local market.
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“We’ve been struggling for quite some time since the pandemic,” she said.
The union said the university offers home loan programs for faculty and executive staff, but not its service workers.
“They receive low-interest mortgages and down payment assistance that they only give to the executives,” cardiac surgical technologist Stevie Bellwood said. “That needs to be applied to everybody.”
Last year, unions and other organizations urged the University of California to divest from Blackstone, a private equity firm that owns property throughout San Diego. Advocates say the firm is contributing to a lack of affordable housing.
Blackstone and the University of California announced a $4 billion investment in the firm by UC Investments in January 2023.
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“We are highly aligned through this investment to further our relationship,” Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said at the time.
In a statement, the University of California wrote that this year’s bargaining sessions have been productive.
“We empathize with the challenges our AFSCME-represented employees face, especially California’s increasing cost of living,” the university wrote. “Our goal is to acknowledge their growing contributions, appreciate their commitment, and offer a financial package that helps alleviate some of their financial strains.”
The university has proposed raising patient care and service workers’ minimum wage to $24 an hour by April 2025.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are considering delaying a separate health worker minimum wage law – that would also apply to University of California workers – by a month over concerns about the cost. That law phases in a $25 minimum wage for certain workers over the course of a few years.
The County took steps Wednesday to buy more land within the Pala-Pauma community for open space and species protection. The Board of Supervisors approved spending $1.2 million to buy 222 acres adjacent to the existing Mount Olympus County Preserve.
The additional acres expand the Mount Olympus County Preserve to more than 1,400 acres, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to support the County’s Climate Action Plan.
County Parks department officials said the land fits into the County’s Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP). The program focuses on balancing the protection of plant and animal species with recreation, development and agricultural activities in the region.
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Some of the species protected by the program include the coastal California gnatcatcher, San Diego horned lizard, golden eagle, mule deer, and mountain lion.
While the 222 acres were added to the North County area, there has also been progress in the South County area.
In 2023, 411 acres were added to the South County Subarea, bringing the total land conserved by the County and its partners up to 80,519 acres, or 82% of the 98,379-acre conservation goal.
Compared to the prior year, acres added in 2023 represent a 1% increase to the overall conservation goal.
The Department of Parks and Recreation looks at many factors when considering obtaining open space land, including biology, connectivity, accessibility and value.
