Marlins deal reliever A.J. Puk to Diamondbacks

MIAMI — The Marlins, very much open to trading veterans for prospects, continued that process on Thursday evening by dealing reliever A.J. Puk to Arizona for corner infielder Deyvison De Los Santos and center fielder Andrew Pintar.

De Los Santos is considered the better of the two prospects; Baseball America ranks him sixth and Pintar 17th among Diamondbacks prospects.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, De Los Santos has hit 48 home runs in 200 minor league games since the start of the 2023 season. And at 21, he has done it against mostly older players at Double-A and Triple-A.

Those 48 homers over the past 16 months included 20 homers (to go with 61 RBIs) in 113 games at Double-A Amarillo last season.

This season, he was dominant to begin the season at Amarillo, hitting .372 (.426 on base), with 14 homers and 37 RBIs in 38 games and earning Texas League Player of the Month honors in April.

He has continued to batter opposing pitchers after a promotion to Triple-A Reno, hitting .289 (.338 on-base), with 14 homers and 47 RBIs in 49 games.

This season, he has played 70 games at first base, 10 at third base and seven as a designated hitter. But he has played more games at third base (228) than first base (138) during four minor league seasons.

The Marlins view him as a corner infielder who can play first and third and DH.

De Los Santos was recently selected to the Futures Game in Texas. He was on the same squad as Marlins pitchers Noble Meyer and Thomas White.

He was selected by Cleveland in the major league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft but was later returned to Arizona this past March.

De Los Santos will report to Triple-A Jacksonville.

Pintar, drafted in the fifth round out of BYU in 2022, hit .304 (.403 on base) with nine homers and 32 RBIs in 57 games in High A Hillsboro this season and has gone 7 for 38 (.184) in his first 10 games at Double-A Amarillo.

In 1 1/2 minor league seasons, the 23-year-old Pintar has hit .266 (.355 on base) with 12 homers and 58 RBIs in 127 games, with 25 steals in 33 attempts.

He hit .298 with nine homers and 46 RBIs in 81 games over three seasons at BYU.

This season, he has played 64 games in center field and five as a designated hitter. He also has minor league experience at second base and left field.

The Marlins and Arizona began serious discussions earlier this week and agreed that De Los Santos would be the primary player going to Miami in the trade.

The Marlins asked for more, and the Diamondbacks on Thursday agreed to include Pintar in the deal.

The Marlins experimented with Puk as a starter to begin the season, and it went poorly; he allowed 14 runs and 37 base-runners in 13 2/3 innings, while going 0-4.

But he has a 2.08 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings since returning to the bullpen.

Puk is earning $1.8 million this season and is arbitration eligible for two more seasons.

The Marlins acquired Puk from Oakland in February 2023 in exchange for former first-round pick JJ Bleday, who is hitting .236 (.315 on base) with an American League-leading 30 doubles, with 12 homers and 36 RBIs in 102 games.

As the Miami Herald previously reported, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a trade target for many teams, but no deal was close as of Thursday evening.

Other players generating interest in the trade market are closer Tanner Scott, who is expected to be dealt over the next few days, and relievers Calvin Faucher and Declan Cronin.

Miami, which now has one open spot on its 40-man roster, has made virtually every player on the roster available and more deals are expected before the July 30 trade deadline.