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Twins trade AL batting champ Luis Arráez to Marlins for Pablo Lopez, prospects

Arráez beat out Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the American League batting title last year and now he's off to Miami in a massive MLB deal.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have traded American League Batting Champ Luis Arráez to the Miami Marlins for right-hander Pablo López, the Marlins’ number five prospect, infielder Jose Salas, and another prospect, outfield Byron Chourio, per reports. 

The move comes after rumors were swirling that Minnesota was looking to trade Arráez. 

Arráez finished 2022 with a .316 batting average to capture the American League Batting title beating out New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge who had a .311 BA. Arraez finished the year with eight home runs and 49 runs batted in. 

Lopez pitched to a 3.75 ERA in 35 starts with the Marlins and finished with a 10-10 record. He also had 174 strikeouts in 180 innings with an ERA+ of 108. 

Locked On Twins hos Nash Walker gave a number of reasons why the Twins were looking for suitors for Arráez. The main one being, while Arráez was an exciting player and his teammates and Twins fans liked him, he was viewed as becoming a one-dimensional player at a young age—he turns 26 this year—and the Twins have a prospect in their system, Alex Kirilloff, who they could put at first if needed. 

His offense was fine from a batting average standpoint but he didn’t hit for power, couldn’t hit lefties, and was affected by leg injuries that were cutting into his playing time. 

Included in the package from the Marlins is 19-year-old Jose Salas who is a switch-hitting infielder, and according to MLB’s 2022 prospect rankings has the potential to hit 20-25 home runs as he is good at recognizing pitches for someone his age. 

The second prospect in the trade is 17-year-old Byron Chourio. Chourio played 51 games in the Dominican Summer League batting .344 with one home run.

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