Arraez on their minds, Marlins fall to A's

OAKLAND -- Dane Myers was stretching in the outfield Friday evening when he heard the news.

Instead of hitting cleanup, he’d be the leadoff man against Oakland. Wait, leadoff? Considering that it was less than 15 minutes before first pitch, the news shocked Myers.

Since last April, the Marlins’ leadoff spot has belonged to Luis Arraez, the two-time batting champ. But there he was, hugging his teammates in the dugout while Myers dug into the batter’s box to face A’s lefty JP Sears.

Why?

At 9:31 p.m. ET, nine minutes before first pitch, ESPN’s Jeff Passan shocked the baseball world by reporting that the Marlins were “nearing a deal” to send Arraez to the Padres, news that was quickly corroborated to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The deal was made official on Saturday, with Miami receiving right-handed reliever Woo-Suk Go and three outfield prospects: Dillon Head (Padres No. 6 prospect), Jakob Marsee (No. 9) and 1B/OF Nathan Martorella (No. 13).

• Marlins finalize trade of Arraez to Padres for 4 players

So, Arraez watched helplessly as Myers struck out to lead off the game. Aside from cheering his teammates from the dugout, Arraez couldn’t do anything to spark the lineup, as the Marlins offense looked sleepy in a 3-1 loss to the A’s.

“I’ve known Luis since last year,” the rookie Myers said. “Good dude, good clubhouse guy, good teammate. It’s tough to see a guy go like that, but we understand it’s part of the business.”

It’s not easy to try and fill the cleats of a player like Arraez. The 27-year-old is coming off back-to-back batting titles and is hitting .299/.347/.372 this season, which is down from his career slash line figures of .324/.377/.423. He’s widely regarded as the best contact hitter in the game.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker admitted it was a lot of work for his staff before the game, as he got a phone call from the front office and had to make a host of last-minute lineup changes.

“You’re scrambling, because all the sheets and rosters and positioning and telling people they’re in a different lineup order,” Schumaker said. “But, again, it’s part of the game.”

The news was especially tough for the Marlins' clubhouse, especially veteran Jazz Chisholm Jr., who had grown close with Arraez since he joined the team before the 2023 season. Miami is now 9-25 on the season, and is on on the verge of trading away one of its best players, potentially setting the stage for another overhaul for the franchise.

“It’s very upsetting, losing one of my closest friends on the team,” Chisholm said to MLB.com. “I know it’s only been like a year and some change since we’ve been together, but I mean, he’s been literally my closest friend on this team before Nick [Gordon] got here. We used to do everything together, eat, hang out, everything. So it’s kind of sad seeing him go, you know? … You don’t expect it. Especially a player of his caliber, so early in the season to be sending him out.”

Arraez entered Friday’s action as MLB’s leader in at-bats (137) and was in the Top 10 in plate appearances (148), so it was a bit odd to see him munching on snacks in the dugout during the game.

Myers also found himself in an unfamiliar spot, as he had been batting in the heart of the order for Triple-A Jacksonville before his promotion to the bigs on Sunday.

“No matter where I’m hitting in the lineup, I’m trying to do the same thing,” Myers told MLB.com.

Myers ended the night 1-for-3 with two strikeouts, but was stranded at third base to end the eighth inning, in a recurring theme for the Marlins. Miami finally pushed a run across with two outs in the ninth, snapping a 29-inning scoreless streak by the Oakland bullpen.

It’s been an eventful week for Myers, who recorded his first career walk-off hit in Tuesday’s wild 7-6 extra-inning win over the Rockies. But now, he likely won’t be able to pick the brain of Arraez.

“Obviously, he’s been one of the best hitters in the game,” Arraez said. “I’ve picked his brain as much as I could. We have similar approaches, similar swings and I tried to gain as much info off him as I could.”

Arraez’s locker was empty and he had left the ballpark by the time media members entered the clubhouse after the game, but it sounds like he got to share a nice goodbye with Chisholm and his teammates before leaving.

“We had our little moment,” Chisholm said. “We hugged each other and said goodbye. Hopefully we get to play together again one day.”