Marlins learning to adjust to life without Arraez: ‘It’s like seeing your brother go’
LOS ANGELES
While recovering from the worst start in franchise history, the Miami Marlins experienced a sudden, unexpected shock.
Before Saturday’s road game against the Oakland Athletics, the Marlins traded their leading hitter, second baseman Luis Arraez, to the San Diego Padres for four prospects. Hours later, the Marlins suffered a 20-4 loss, their worst in four years.
Arraez won his second consecutive batting championship last year by leading the major leagues in hitting (.354) during his first season in Miami.
This year, he owned the team’s best batting average (.299) and on-base percentage (.347) while scoring the most runs (22) and sharing the team lead in doubles (8).
In the process, the Venezuelan infielder earned his now-former teammates’ respect and received their affection.
‘‘Everybody knows Luis Arraez as an outstanding player, but also as an outstanding person,” said third baseman Jake Burger, activated from the injured list before Monday night’s game in Los Angeles. “Luis was one of our best friends, you know. He always knew how to put a smile on everybody’s face.”
Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. took the news especially hard.
“It’s like seeing your brother go,” he said. “He was more like a brother than anything. When he came over here, we started doing everything together.”
“I learned a lot from him. I learned how to be a professional, how to be a good teammate, how to be a better person in just everything in life. He was good at everything. I’m going to miss him. It’s devastating thinking that we were going to play together for a long time, especially how things were going his first season here.”
The news might not have been totally surprising, first baseman Josh Bell said, but the timing was jarring.
“We heard some rumors about that in the offseason,” Bell said about a possible trade. “A couple of other guys kind of just floated around in trade rumors. What’s weird was hearing five minutes before the game. So everyone was just focused on getting ready for the game, and heard the news basically stretching on the foul line.
“I was able to say goodbye to him in the dugout, and he took off later that night. It didn’t really set in until probably the next day when you watch him play in a different uniform.”
If moving Arraez means the start of another rebuilding program, veterans such as Bell, Chisholm and shortstop Tim Anderson could be next.
When WMEN-AM’s Andy Slater asked Peter Bendix, the president of baseball operations, if Chisholm would be with the Marlins for the whole season, Bendix said he “didn’t know what to expect,” Slater tweeted.
Does a possible trade reside in the back of Chisholm’s mind?
“Not at all,” he said Monday night. “Everybody knows I want to be here for the next 10 years. But I’m not thinking about getting traded if it happens. I’ve been traded before.”
Bell, who will be a free agent with Anderson after the season, expressed a similar attitude.
‘‘I’ve gotten traded three times in my career,” he said. “You know, the game goes on. There’s going to be people out on the field every night, and you are happy to play no matter what jersey you can put on.”
Arraez’s departure provides another challenge for manager Skip Schumaker, one beyond filling out a lineup card.
“For the first day or two, it’s tough when you see one of your best friends and favorite teammates leave, there’s no doubt,” he said. “When anybody that you love and is a big part of your team gets traded, there’s some shock.
“But their job is not to play GM. Their job is to play as good a baseball as they can to get better. So as much as our staff can keep providing a positive and competitive environment and try to get them better, that’s all we can do.”
Miami (Weathers 2-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Stone 2-1), 3:10
Arizona (Montgomery 1-2) at Cincinnati (Ashcraft 3-1), 6:40
S.F. (Hicks 2-1) at Colorado (Lambert 2-1), 8:40
INTERLEAGUE
L.A. Angels (Soriano 1-4) at Pittsburgh (Perez 1-2), 12:35
Toronto (Bassitt 2-5) at Philadelphia (Nola 4-1), 1:05
Milwaukee (Ross 1-3) at Kansas City (Singer 2-1), 2:10
Baltimore (Bradish 0-0) at Washington (Parker 2-1), 6:45
Boston at Atlanta (Sale 4-1), 7:20
TUESDAY
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas at Oakland
Detroit at Cleveland
Chi. White Sox at Tampa Bay Houston at N.Y. Yankees Seattle at Minnesota
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami at L.A. Dodgers
Arizona at Cincinnati
San Diego at Chi. Cubs
N.Y. Mets at St. Louis
San Francisco at Colorado
INTERLEAGUE
L.A. Angels at Pittsburgh Toronto at Philadelphia Baltimore at Washington Boston at Atlanta
Milwaukee at Kansas City
MONDAY
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 2, Detroit 1
Tampa Bay 8, Chi. White Sox 2 Minnesota 3, Seattle 1
Texas 4, Oakland 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
L.A. Dodgers 6, Miami 3
Philadelphia 6, S.F. 1
San Diego 6, Chi. Cubs 3
N.Y. Mets 4, St. Louis 3
INTERLEAGUE
Pittsburgh 4, L.A. Angels 1 Kansas City 3, Milwaukee 2