The Arizona Diamondbacks made the 2024 World Series last season and are beginning to turn things around as the second half of the season continues to roll on. ESPN’s Jeff Passan is reporting that the team has agreed with the Miami Marlins to trade for left-handed reliever AJ Puk. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale is reporting that the package that the Marlins are receiving will be Andrew Pintar and Deyvision De Los Santos.
Pintar is a center fielder currently in Triple-A and was a fifth-round pick in the 2022 MLB draft. Fangraphs considered him the 22nd-ranked prospect in the Arizona system. De Los Santos is the 12th-ranked prospect in the organization and is currently at Triple-A this season. Both hitters have been crushing it at the plate this season and is a pretty strong package to return for the southpaw reliever. Let’s take a look at what this means for the Arizona Diamondbacks going forward.
What does the AJ Puk trade mean for the Arizona Diamondbacks going forward?
While AJ Puk is a good reliever, he is struggling a bit this season. He is 4-8 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.341 WHIP in 44.0 innings of work. He has had trouble with his command as he has posted 23 walks to 45 strikeouts, less than a 1:2 ratio this year. However, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been struggling out of their bullpen as they are 22nd in the sport with a 4.24 reliever ERA, while their 403.0 innings from the bullpen is the fifth-highest in the sport.
Puk is going to be sliding into the D-Backs’ bullpen for the next few years as he has two more seasons of arbitration and does not become an unrestricted free agent until after the 2026 season. He has been doing better than his overall numbers show as he has not allowed a run in his last 13 outings (15.0 innings) with three walks to 22 strikeouts. He was one of the names projected to be traded before the trade deadline this season, after seeing All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez traded earlier this season.
This gives the Arizona Diamondbacks a nice potential set-up man for in the back of their bullpen to get the ball to closer Paul Sewald. If they can continue to get quality names in the bullpen, this Diamondbacks team, who is currently just 8.5 games back in the NL West and just a single game back in the NL Wild Card, could continue their hot play and give the Los Angeles Dodgers a run for their money.
