After years of trade talks that had been building to a crescendo during his All-Star campaign, Adam Frazier has been traded.
According to the source, the Pirates are sending All-Star second baseman and cash to the Padres for three players. The deal is still in the medical review stage.
The Pirates received shortstop Tucupita Marcano, outfielder Jack Suwinski and right-hander Michell Miliano and sent approximately $1.4 million to the Padres. The money makes it so the Padres will pay Frazier a prorated rate of the league minimum salary.
Marcano was the Padres' fifth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline and eighth-best prospect according to Baseball America. Suwinski and Miliano were not in either publications' top 30.
Marcano, 21, made the jump from Class A in 2019 to AAA and the majors this season. He made the opening day roster but struggled in his first taste in the bigs, slashing .182/.280/.205 with no home runs and three RBIs over 50 plate appearances. He did show some versatility in the field, playing eight games at second base, eight in the corner outfield spots and a game at third.
In Class AAA, Marcano slashed .272/.367/.444 with six home runs and 26 RBIs over 199 plate apperances.
While he does not have much power, homering just three times in his first three years in professional ball from 2017-2019, he has been praised for his heat and speed tools. FanGraphs gives his bat a 60-grade, based on the scouting 20-80 scale, and his speed a 60 as well. MLB Pipeline gives both tools a 55, while Baseball America gives his bat a 50 and speed a 60.
Suwinski, 22, had been the best hitter for the Padres' Class AA affiliate San Antonio Missions, slashing .269/.398/.551 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs. Of the 75 hitters in the minors with at least 250 plate appearances, Suwinski ranks fourth in OPS (.949) and third in wRC+ (154). He is, however, prone to strikeouts, fanning in 27.7% of his plate appearances this year.
After signing for $500,000 after being drafted in the 15th round in 2016, Suwinski had been a fairly average hitter across his first four years in professional ball, so this has been a breakout offensive campaign for him.
Miliano, 21, has racked up eye-opening strikeout and walk numbers in Class A and High-A so far this season. In 30 innings total, he has struck out 59 while walking 25 and pitching to a 3.60 ERA.
For Frazier, this brings his time with the Pirates to an end, which covered parts of six MLB seasons after the club drafted him in the sixth round in 2013.
Frazier is leading the league with 125 hits in what has been a career year thus far, hitting .324 with an .836 OPS and 28 doubles. He earned nationwide recognition for his play, winning the fan vote to earn the starting nod at second base for the National League in the All-Star Game.
While he had been regarded as one of the top hitters available this trade deadline, Frazier had been no stranger to trade talks in recent years. His name had been floated the previous two winters and briefly during the 2020 deadline. While the Pirates dealt players like Joe Musgrove, Starling Marte, Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon and Jarrod Dyson at those times, Frazier stayed put.
"Any time you’re involved in discussions like that, you can lose your focus," Derek Shelton said following the Pirates' 6-1 loss to the Giants Sunday. "The one thing that we’ve never seen Adam Frazier do in the two years that I’ve been here is lose his focus. He continues to go out day in and day out, give us consistent at-bats, play Gold Glove caliber second base. Bounced into the outfield and played it well above average when we needed him. I think it just speaks to how focused he is and how he can maintain that."
Shelton declined to comment on the trade until it was finalized.
After the game, his teammates spoke highly of their soon-to-be-former teammate.
"It stinks for us," Jacob Stallings said. "He's obviously set the tone at the top of our lineup all year, and just had an amazing, amazing year. He's been a teammate of mine for I think since 2014. He’s somebody I work out with an offseason. So, it's mixed emotions, but the overwhelming emotion is just happy for him."
"I'm happy for the guy," JT Brubaker said. Dude's an All-Star. He's going to go to a team that is going to be in a playoff push down the stretch. It's going to be exciting to watch. It's much-deserved from him. The dude's leading the league in hits. He seems to be on base every time he comes to the plate. It's just all the hard work that he's put in coming up through the Pirates organization and up here in Pittsburgh. He's going to go out there and just continue to do the same thing. He's going to be the same person no matter what. Yeah, gonna give it his all, and that's who Adam Frazier is."
Marcano is on the 40-man roster, so the Pirates' roster remains full. The Pirates will be off Monday before returning to PNC Park Tuesday to take on the Brewers.
The trade deadline this year is 4 p.m. Eastern on July 30.
More to come.
