PHOENIX — The Padres will receive nearly $8 million as part of Saturday’s trade that shipped two-time slugger Luis Arraez from Miami, leaving San Diego responsible for only the major league minimum salary, a team official confirmed.
Reliever Woo-Suk Go, who is in the first year of a two-year, $4.5 million contract, and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, were dealt to the Marlins in exchange for Arraez, who is owed $8,491,398 over the remaining 149ers. Days into his $10.6 million contract this season. The Marlins are also sending $7,898,602 to the Padres in the swap; San Diego would therefore cover $592,796 of Arraez’s salary or the pro rata share of the $740,000 minimum salary.
The Associated Press first reported details of the cash considerations for the trade, which could provide the Padres with a notable amount of financial flexibility. FanGraphs expects San Diego’s luxury tax payroll, after Saturday’s trade, to be roughly $12 million below the league’s $237 million tax cap. After incurring mounting penalties over the past three seasons, the Padres would prefer to avoid exceeding the minimum this year.
Arraez, 27, is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He lost to the Marlins in salary arbitration in February and was given his $10.6 million salary instead of his $12 million request.
Go deeper
MLB Trade Grades: Evaluating Padres-Marlins Luis Arraez Trade
The Padres have not taken a player to a salary arbitration hearing since hiring AJ Preller as general manager in 2014. Arraez won the 2022 American League batting title with the Minnesota Twins, captured the 2023 National League batting title with the Marlins and is batting .299 afterward. Slow start to the season. It is likely to get a significant increase this winter. With only nine players under contract next year, the Padres are expected to take a $186 million payroll from the luxury tax in 2025, when the tax cap rises to $241 million.
Regardless of what happens in the rest of 2024, the Padres can avoid paying Arraez a large sum in 2025 by trading him to another team in the offseason. They could also be motivated to keep him as part of a pitch that could lose a key member later this year. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim could become a free agent after the upcoming World Series.
Meanwhile, San Diego appears to have maintained a useful amount of financial flexibility with the help of the Marlins. Perhaps the Padres can use their remaining resources to send in reinforcements before the July trade deadline. The team entered Saturday with a 4.19 ERA, and the rotation features multiple question marks outside of No. 1 starter Dylan Cease.
Required reading
(Photo: Sam Navarro/USA Today)