Bryan Hoeing and Tanner Scott to Be Acquired by Padres.

3:37 PM: According to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, the Padres are sending right-hander Adam Mazur and left-hander Robby Snelling to Miami. Infielder/outfielder Graham Pauley is included in the return, according to Mish, while infielder Jay Beshears is the fourth and last player, according to Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Three of the Padres’ best remaining prospects—Pauley, Mazur, and Snelling—will go to Miami in exchange for the two relievers in a huge trade. 3:32 p.m.: According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Padres are closing in on a deal to acquire Marlins reliever Tanner Scott. Righty Bryan Hoeing is also moving to San Diego as part of the deal, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald.

For the Padres, who have already acquired Luis Arraez in another early-season blockbuster with Miami and added righty Jason Adam in a deal with the Rays, this is their latest attempt at a trade. The players’ medical evaluations are still pending in the Scott transaction.

Scott, 30, has one of the lowest ERAs in the majors this season, with a pristine 1.18 mark in 45 2/3 innings of work. He’s averaged 97.1 mph on his heater, fanned 29.1%  of his opponents and induced grounders at a hearty 49% clip. The flamethrowing lefty has picked up 18 saves for Miami on the season and tacked on another 12 saves in 2023, when he tossed 78 innings of 2.31 ERA ball.

Impressive as Scott’s earned run average has been, he’s seen a resurgence of the command troubles that plagued him for his entire career prior to the 2023 campaign, when he went from a lifetime 14.2% walk rate to a tidy 7.8% mark. Scott has issued a free pass to a glaring 14.8% of his opponents this season, although a good portion of his command troubles came in the season’s first few weeks. He’s posted a 0.49 ERA, 32.6% strikeout rate and more manageable (but still too high) 10.9% walk rate dating back to April 20. At this point, last year’s strong walk rate looks like an aberration.

Scott has a one-year, $5.7MM deal that he is playing on this season. Without an extension, he’s a pure rental for the Friars and won’t get them any pick compensation because of his midseason trade, which disqualifies him from a qualifying offer. The Padres are making a sizable offer in an attempt to assemble a strong bullpen that will enable them to win short postseason games with days off incorporated into the calendar. Along with the previously mentioned Adam, Jeremiah Estrada (2.92 ERA in 39 2/3 frames), Adrian Morejon (2.74 ERA in 42 2/3 innings), Yuki Matsui (3.45 ERA in 47 2/3 frames), Robert Suarez (1.51 ERA in 41 2/3 innings), and Scott complete a strong bullpen corps.

Also joining the revamped bullpen is the 27-year-old Hoeing. He’s not nearly as established as Scott and the majority of his new bullpen-mates but is nevertheless enjoying a strong 2024 campaign. In 30 frames, he’s logged a 2.70 ERA with a below-average but respectable 20.2% strikeout rate against a 7.3% walk rate. Hoeing has kept the ball on the ground at a 48.9% clip in part because of a sinker that averages a solid 93.7 mph. He throws that pitch just over half the time and pairs it with a slider-splitter combo — and a rarely-used four-seamer — that helps keep both lefties and, to a lesser extent, righties off balance.

Hoeing will turn 28 in October, but by the end of the season, he will only have played in MLB for two years. That will make him manageable for the Padres over the next four seasons in addition to the final stretch run in ’24. His two minor league option years are still outstanding, and he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the early part of the 2025–2026 offseason. That provides them with a long-term element in the pen that the Friars undoubtedly desired in return for what appears to be an excellent group of young talent that will continue to strengthen a Marlins system that is improving quickly.

Among the names going to the Marlins in the deal, the 23-year-old Mazur and 23-year-old Pauley have both made their big league debuts. Mazur is the more highly regarded of the two, having been a second-round pick back in 2022. He’s struggled to a 7.49 ERA through his first five big league appearances but has posted a 4.39 ERA with a 24.7% strikeout rate and outstanding 5% walk rate in 55 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season.