The San Francisco Giants have a new starting second baseman.
Former San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez has agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal with San Francisco, according to The Athletic’s Katie Woo. Arraez reportedly turned down multiple multiyear offers from other teams due to his desire to play second base, rather than first base.
The 28-year-old Arraez has spent the past season and a half with the Padres and is a well-known commodity at this point. He’s going to make contact and get hits at a rate higher than any player in baseball, with a career .317 batting average that leads all active players. That contact will come with barely any power, as more than three quarters of his NL-best 181 hits in 2025 were singles.
There also won’t be much value on the defensive side. Arraez has played second base more than any other position in his career, but was the Padres’ primary first baseman last year. He doesn’t grade out particularly well at either position, but there was a reason his other suitors were apparently hesitant to have him play second base in particular.
The Giants proved a fit because they already had their other three infield positions filled with Matt Chapman at third base, Willy Adames at shortstop and Rafael Devers at first base, with top 100 prospect Bryce Eldridge waiting in the wings at first base as well.
Arraez provides the club another intriguing hitter in the infield, though it remains to be seen if he will be able to hold his own defensively at second. If he can, a successful season would allow him to re-enter the market with significantly higher value.
Oracle Park will also be an interesting setting for Arraez’s bat, as the stadium is the second-harshest in MLB on lefty hitters when it comes to overall park factor and home runs, per Baseball Savant. Homers will be even harder to come by for Arraez, but his lack of power could mean that disadvantage is mitigated.
As for the Padres, the loss of Arraez leaves them with a mix of Jake Cronenworth, Sung-Mun Song, Gavin Sheets and Will Wagner to help with first and second base, while Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts continue to hold down the left side of the infield.
Read the full article here