Luis Arraez is among the likeliest players to be traded before the August 3 deadline. He’s an impending free agent on a bad Giants team who is playing well enough to be one of the top position players available.
Arraez said last week that he’d be willing to discuss a new deal to remain in San Francisco. However, there’s no indication the team has shown the same desire. The front office seems likelier to flip him to a contender for prospects. Arraez, who has dramatically outperformed most expectations in a move back to second base, made clear he’s not interested in playing other positions with a new team.
“This is a business, so whatever team wants to give me the opportunity to help, it’s going to be at second base,” Arraez told reporters in advance of his fourth All-Star Game (links via Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com). “I don’t like to go back to first base; I prepared my mind, I prepared my body to only play second base. One hundred percent, I’m staying at second.”
That’ll probably be the case, though it’s worth noting that Arraez doesn’t actually have much say in the matter. His one-year deal with the Giants didn’t contain any no-trade protection. Arraez signed with San Francisco largely because they offered him the second base job. That doesn’t mean they’d take a lesser return to facilitate a trade specifically to a team with a need at the position.
All that said, Arraez has shown enough defensively that an acquiring team probably feels he’s most valuable there regardless. He has only been charged with four errors in nearly 800 innings across 89 appearances. Defensive Runs Saved feels his range has been a little worse than average, but Statcast’s Outs Above Average grades him among the best in the league. Only JJ Wetherholt has a higher OAA figure than Arraez’s +10 mark at the position.
It’s a surprise turnaround for a player who’d never graded highly at the position early in his career. The Padres had mostly made him a full-time first baseman between 2024-25. It’s rare for players to move back up the defensive spectrum in their late 20s, but the Giants correctly surmised that Arraez could pull that off (with some amount of credit to highly-respected infield coach Ron Washington).
Arraez is also having his best year at the plate since 2023. He’s hitting .330/.369/.460 with four homers, 21 doubles and seven triples. No other qualified batter has a lower strikeout rate than his 4% mark. Arraez trails only Miami’s Otto Lopez, coincidentally the player who initially replaced him at second base after the Marlins traded him in 2024, in his bid for a fourth batting title.
Few contenders have as clear a second base need as the Rays, who have gotten a .234/.328/.325 slash line out of the position. Bob Nightengale of USA Today unsurprisingly reported over the weekend that Tampa Bay has shown some interest in Arraez (along with Arizona’s Ketel Marte, who seems much less likely to move). While the Rays should finally get Gavin Lux back not long after the All-Star Break, Arraez is the better player and Lux can fit as a versatile left-handed bat off the bench.
The Red Sox have vaulted back to within a half game of a playoff spot behind a nine-game winning streak to close the first half. They’re suddenly positioned as likely deadline buyers and could certainly use middle infield help. The AL West-leading Rangers are playing Nicky Lopez at second base, and Arraez has connections to Texas manager Skip Schumaker from their Miami days. A return to San Diego could also make some sense if the Padres buy, as Jake Cronenworth hasn’t produced around an extended injured list for concussion-like symptoms.
