SHILDT SAYS: The manager and GM A.J. Preller discuss the acquisition of two-time batting champion Luis Arraez for four prospects
Before Saturday’s game in Arizona, Padres General Manager A.J. Preller and Manager Mike Shildt discussed the trade that brought two-time batting champion Luis Arraez to the Padres for three of the ball club’s top-14 prospects — center fielders Dillon Head (№6) and Jakob Marsee (№9) and first baseman Nathan Martorella (№14) — plus minor league relief pitcher Woo-Suk Go.
Arraez arrived just before game time Saturday and was immediately put in the lead-off spot as the designated hitter. To make room on the 26-man roster for Arraez, the Padres optioned infielder Graham Pauley to Triple-A El Paso.
“I’m really excited,” Shildt said of the acquisition of Arraez. “Having a two-time batting champion adds length to the lineup. I like what (Fernando) Tatis (Jr.) said about drawing the comparison between Arraez and Tony Gwynn. It’s difficult to draw a comp to Tony Gwynn. But if there is one in our modern game, we now have him on our team and it just feels right, doesn’t it.”
“Historically, Arraez has led off. He pushes everyone down a spot. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever change it, but he has done that and clearly done it well. He’s also been able to drive in runs and we’ve got other guys who contribute to that. But I think he can do that and score a lot of runs with the people hitting behind him now. The starting point of what he does for a lineup is taking a quality at-bat every time.”
“He’s the designated hitter today. We wanted to make sure he got here and got comfortable. I don’t think it’s rocket science how we do our bunt plays and hold runners and other stuff defensively. But let him get here and take some at-bats and go from there. He’ll play some first and second. We’ll pass the designated hitter spot around a little bit.”
Shildt then changed course.
“This is a good time to stop and give A.J. Preller some credit,” said Shildt. “I mean you leave the last day of spring training, which is not a historical spot where moves are made, and you leave Arizona and add Dylan Cease, who was pretty darn good for us last night. And now we’re in early May and you make the move for a guy like Arraez.”
“These additions speak volumes about the organization’s commitment to winning. I applaud A.J. for a lot of things. Getting and acquiring talent. Also, we have to give a shout-out to our scouting department. We make these moves with Dylan and Juan (Soto) two years ago and now with Arraez. It means that you have prospects that people covet that they would give up this kind of talent. Real kudos to our scouting department and also our player development department.”
Preller echoed that sentiment.
“Scouting is the name of the game,” said Preller. “You want guys with big league talent to come into the system. The guys we gave up have premium value. Chris Kemp and our scouts do a great job knowing what we’re looking for.”
Preller then discussed acquiring Arraez.
“We’re super excited to add a two-time batting champion,” said the general manager. “He’s a guy who brings a lot of energy and obviously a ton of skill. He’s somebody we’ve been looking at for a while.”
“For us, we liked our team. During the off-season losing Soto, we needed to find other ways to get offense. That was something we prioritized. Ultimately, Arraez was available, so do it now and have him for 140 games rather than 60 if we added him later. We know it’s going to be tough competition to get into the playoffs. We sought to determine the asking price and what the deal was going to be.”
“Every situation is a little different. We’ve made additions at the trading deadline and some guys have struggled with a new environment. I think, again for us, it was the chance to have him for 140 games now … one of the best hitters in the game. We felt the deal made more sense now. We could add an elite talent at a price that worked for us.”
“Most of the emphasis at the end of spring training was on the pitching front and we prioritized the Cease deal at that point in time. We felt at that time there was a need for a left-handed bat and a starting pitcher. We felt the starting pitcher was the more pressing need at that time. Over the last couple weeks, the Marlins were very straight-forward about what they were looking at.”
Shildt continued …
“When you have a guy who has Arraez’s kind of approach and then the swing to match it and the ability to get on base, I think that’s a tremendous model for our guys to continue to follow. He’s going to produce benefits on the field with what he’s going to do with his production. But the residual benefit of how he goes to work, see the game and help players grow around him, including Jackson Merrill. I don’t think there’s any question that there will be value in that as well.”
“We’re still in conversations about moving guys on defense. It’s not the easiest thing moving guys to third, guys to short. We can do it. But right now, we’re clear about what he plays and we know there’s an opportunity in the designated hitter spot for guys to have a day off as the DH, whether he be at first or second. And then we’ll have discussions about what it looks like when we have to do something when Manny (Machado) is not in the lineup. There are a lot of options. We’ll figure out what our best options are to keep guys fresh and make sure guys get opportunities.”
Shildt then returned to Preller: “I don’t think A.J. Preller is ever done. We like the club we’ve got, but I know A.J. is always looking to make the club better.”
