David Schoenfield hands out grades as the San Diego Padres acquire 2B/OF Adam Frazier from the Pittsburgh Pirates for IF Tucupita Marcano, OF Jack Suwinski and RHP Michell Miliano.
San Diego Padres: B+
The Padres are on pace for 92 wins but find themselves looking up at the Giants and the Dodgers in the National League, and this could be the first of several moves A.J. Preller makes. (Remember the flurry of deals Preller made last season to enhance the roster.) At first glance, trading for All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier might feel like an odd fit, since the Padres already have an All-Star second baseman in Jake Cronenworth. The key is that both players have positional flexibility. While Frazier has made all his starts this season at second base (other than one at DH), he has played more than 1,000 innings in the majors in the outfield. Cronenworth has started games at first base and shortstop besides second.
The Padres are averaging 4.76 runs per game; compare that to 5.20 for the Dodgers and 4.89 for the Giants and you can see why Preller was seeking more offense. So how will Jayce Tingler deploy his new resource? It could be that a couple of high-price veterans will see reduced playing time. Against right-handers, I can see Frazier getting time in right field in place of Wil Myers, and against lefties, Cronenworth slides over to first base in place of Eric Hosmer. Some numbers:
vs. RHP
Frazier: .333/.397/.434
Cronenworth: .272/.347/.470
Myers: .269/.328/.475
Hosmer: .266/.336/.363
vs. LHP
Frazier: .299/.364/.486
Cronenworth: .282/.357/.447
Myers: .203/.342/.328
Hosmer: .267/.309/.440
Myers and Hosmer both have reverse platoons this season, but these are small samples. Hosmer, in particular, has been much worse against lefties in his career. Frankly, with a .710 OPS on the season, he probably shouldn't be playing much at all; that is some substandard production from a first baseman. He also is making $20 million, and no matter what the numbers say, it's hard to bench a player with a $20 million salary.
Of course, all these players will end up playing on a regular basis. It just gives the Padres more depth, and their bench has been a huge disappointment this season, with none of their seven most used reserves posting an OPS+ higher than 86. The bonus here is that Frazier is under team control through 2022, so Preller picks up more than a rental, a similar path to the trades he made last season.
Frazier leads the majors in hits while hitting .324/.338/.448 overall, using more of a throwback approach -- hitting singles and doubles and going for more contact (he has just four home runs). I wouldn't necessarily expect him to hit .324 moving forward, as he is a career .283 hitter. He has cut down his strikeout rate, which has produced a few extra hits, but he also is riding a career-high .359 BABIP (.303 entering 2021) without any improvement in exit velocity. Still, he is a nice player and gives the Padres a much-needed extra bat to play with.
Pittsburgh Pirates: B+
The main acquisition for the Pirates is Marcano, who made his big league debut this season. He was Kiley McDaniel's No. 8 prospect for Pittsburgh entering the season, and his profile is somewhat similar to Frazier's as a contact hitter without much power projection, except Marcano has the tools to stick at shortstop. Marcano is hitting .272/.367/.444 at El Paso, but the key number there is he has more walks than strikeouts, impressive for a 21-year-old in Triple-A.
Suwinski is a left-handed-hitting right fielder who has reached Double-A at age 22 and has put up good numbers at San Antonio, hitting .269/.398/.551 with 15 home runs in 216 at-bats. The strikeout rate is high with 74 in 66 games, and he has come out of nowhere this season as a former 15th-round pick in 2016 who hadn't done much in the minors prior to 2021. Still, numbers are numbers, and he at least now looks like a future big leaguer in some role.
Miliano is another 21-year-old, a typical lower-level relief prospect included in these types of deals. He throws in the mid-90s and has 59 strikeouts in 30 innings in Class A but with too many walks (25). A pure flier on a young arm, but you never know.
I think the Pirates did well here, especially if Marcano can be a plus defender at shortstop. I see some on-base upside in his profile, and I think they unloaded Frazier at the right time. Maybe they didn't get any big-ceiling upside, but they might end up with three big leaguers -- a solid return for a season and two months of Frazier.