MIAMI — Marlins’ president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has long made clear his philosophy regarding the draft: take the best player available.
So when Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette was still there when Miami went on the clock in the first round of the MLB Draft last Sunday, the decision was a no-brainer.
“We were able to get the best college position player in the draft; that is not something we overlook,” Bendix said of Arquette, drafted by the Marlins with the No. 7 pick. “I think at pick number seven, we didn’t really expect that that player would be available. When he was, it made it a very easy decision for us.”
Towards the top of the Marlins’ scouting report that led to them spending their top pick on Arquette was the 21-year-old’s massive frame.
As a 6-foot-5, 220-pound middle infielder, Arquette was one of the most physically domineering prospects available in this draft cycle, and that size allowed him to produce the power to hit .354 for 19 homers at Oregon State last season — the program’s fourth-most in a season.
“Physicality is important,” manager Clayton McCullough said as Arquette was introduced at loanDepot Park on Saturday. “Starting major league players have to be physical, physical guys to be able to take the durability component of it. They’re not the end-all, be-all, but strength and power is a real great starting point.”
But it was also the athleticism Arquette possesses to complement his size that helped win over Miami’s scouting department.
Arquette was a three-sport athlete growing up in Kailua, Hawai’i. He was a standout in baseball, football and basketball coming out of Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, and is even “a great soccer player,” too, said his agent, Scott Boras.
“Playing three sports in high school really helped me with that,” Arquette said. “Basketball and football really kept me active with my footwork. I think that’s the secret sauce there.”
That background translated into the speed and movement necessary to man the middle of the infield.
“We know this guy can hit; we know a lot of things this guy can do,” said director of amateur scouting Frankie Piliere, “but I think the ability to play shortstop — with his physical size and all the other things that come with it — that’s what kind of makes him so rare.”
Piliere doubled down on Saturday that the Marlins drafted Arquette with the intention of keeping him at the same position, saying, “We think this guy’s a shortstop, and a really good one.” However, his unique combination of size, speed and power leaves the flexibility to move Arquette — who played second base at Washington before transferring to Oregon State — all around the diamond.
“He’s got a lot of tools that really stand out,” Piliere said. “There’s not many things we think he can’t do.”
It was an easy decision for the Marlins to take Arquette when he became available to them. However, the process of scouting him wasn’t.
Arquette “is the most scouted player in history,” Boras said, adding that Miami’s due diligence called for 26 different trips to his native Hawai’i by the scouting department throughout the process.
With such a hot commodity seemingly falling into their lap at the seventh pick, it was a simple decision.
“I remember talking to (area scout) Scott Fairbanks sometime last year hoping that a player like this would be available,” Piliere said. “It’s going to be really exciting watching him develop in our system.”
