Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix didn’t mince words when reflecting on the trade he completed Friday night.
“We are unlikely to make the playoffs this year,” Bendix bluntly said to reporters in a press conference.
The Marlins traded two-time batting champion Luis Arráez to the San Diego Padres in exchange for three prospects and reliever Woo-Suk Go.
Arraez was a staple in the Marlins’ lineup since the team acquired him in a trade in January 2023, batting .343/.384/.450 across 180 games with Miami. He’ll now join a Padres team attempting to keep up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
The Marlins were one of baseball’s most surprising stories last year, winning 84 games and making the playoffs as a wild-card team. But they got off to a horrendous start in 2024, dropping their first nine games and 16 of their first 20.
Entering Saturday’s slate of games, the Marlins are 9–25 and in last place in the NL West, 13 1/2 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies. Fangraphs currently gives the Marlins just a 0.5% chance to make the playoffs.
There’s a long way to go in the regular season—128 games remain on the Marlins’ schedule—but Bendix is right. Miami probably won’t make the playoffs. It’s why one of baseball’s best contact hitters is now wearing brown and gold in San Diego.
