Feb. 10: The Giants officially announced the signing of Arraez on Tuesday morning. Right-hander Randy Rodriguez, who underwent Tommy John surgery last September, moves to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Jan. 31: The Giants and infielder Luis Arraez are in agreement on a one-year contract, according to Jorge Castillo of ESPN. Arraez will earn $12MM and is expected to play second base, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The deal is pending a physical. Arraez is a client of MVP Sports Group.
Arraez entered the offseason seeking a multi-year deal and was reportedly prioritizing teams that would play him at second base. He now gets his wish, as the Giants will slot him in at the keystone to round out their infield mix. Arraez passed up multi-year offers from other teams in order to play second base, according to multiple reports, including from Bob Nightengale of USA Today. We at MLBTR projected Arraez for a two-year, $24MM contract at the start of the offseason. This deal matches that in terms of annual value and allows Arraez to return to free agency following the 2026 season.
The addition of Arraez brings the Giants’ 2026 payroll to $206MM, according to RosterResource, nearly $30MM above last year’s payroll. Their CBT payroll for 2026 now stands at $232.7MM, which leaves about $11.3MM for future additions before the Giants reach the first luxury tax threshold. Arraez represents the second eight-figure signing this week for the club, after they inked Harrison Bader to a two-year, $20.5MM deal on Monday.
Arraez will add a contact-oriented bat to a power-heavy infield. Matt Chapman and Willy Adames combined for 51 home runs last season. Rafael Devers added 20 homers in his 90 games with the team. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge is waiting in the wings to add another big bat to the mix. Each of those hitters comes with varying degrees of strikeout concerns, and Arraez should help balance out some of the swing-and-miss in the middle of the lineup.
The 28-year-old Arraez is coming off a relatively poor season by his lofty batting average standards. He hit .292 in his lone full season in San Diego. That mark still ranked in the top five in the National League, but it was the lowest of his seven-year career. A .289 BABIP could be to blame for the dropoff, though Arraez’s batted ball profile also took a step back.
Arraez has never hit the ball hard, instead relying on a ridiculously low strikeout rate and an all-fields approach to rack up hits. He reached new depths with the hard-hit rate in 2025, ranking dead last among qualified hitters at 16.7%. His previous career low was a 22.7% hard-hit rate as a rookie with Minnesota. He still squared the ball up at one of the highest rates in the league (42.6%), but that doesn’t mean much when you have an extremely low bat speed. Arraez’s average bat speed was about 9 mph below league average last season.
The defensive fit is an unsettling one. Arraez earned poor grades in the field in 2023 and 2024, combining for -26 Outs Above Average across the two seasons. He served as Miami’s primary second baseman in 2023, but moved to first base after getting dealt to the Padres in May 2024. The vast majority of Arraez’s defensive reps came at first base this past season. He posted -9 OAA, though Defensive Runs Saved had him at +3. Arraez will now slot in alongside Devers, who has also earned ugly fielding grades over the past few seasons. Scouts are not excited about Eldridge’s defensive ability, either.
As multiple Cardinals reporters pointed out, including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, the addition of Arraez might remove the Giants from the Brendan Donovan trade discussion. The same goes for Nico Hoerner of the Cubs. San Francisco was known to be working hard on finding a second base upgrade and had engaged in trade talks for both players.
The club’s second basemen finished 26th in OPS in 2025. Tyler Fitzgerald, Casey Schmitt, and Christian Koss handled the majority of the at-bats at the position. Schmitt is the only one trending toward a role with the big-league club next season, assuming he’s recovered from offseason wrist surgery. Given his defensive versatility and underwhelming production at the plate, he’s best-suited for a utility role. Schmitt could conceivably earn second base starts over Arraez against lefties, though his .674 career OPS vs. southpaws is nearly identical to Arraez’s .673 mark.
Photos courtesy of David Frerker and William Liang, Imagn Images
Damn out of left field
First base, actually. On his way to second.
At least you guys didn’t say shortstop.
I don’t know. Third base!
But who’s on second?
Hu’s on first
Cade Horton heard that
Kestin Hiura
All Arraez!!!
It’s a good, low risk 1 year deal.
I’ve been preaching how Ron Washington should be able to shore up Arraez’ questionable defense. Guess we’ll see.
Worse case scenario is he’s terrible at 2B but still does his thing with the bat. He can always be traded if need be.
Giants look pretty good heading into the 2026 season. Not Great. Pretty, Pretty, Pretty good though.
He can always be traded? You sure about that?
Yeah his bat is even trending down. But it’s one year.
Trending down to .292 aint bad. No, he’s not great defensively, nor has much power, but he’s exactly what SF needs in their lineup.
the batting average is about the only aspect of his offensive profile that ain’t bad.
PV
A league averageish hitter?
Ducks on the pond in front of Bangers in the box.
All good.
If he’s terrible, teams aren’t going to knock on the door expecting him to not be terrible once traded.
Trade for a terrible player with a 12 million baggage. You can always trade the general manager.
Flatsorter and Cam
Unless the other team is looking for a 1B or DH, positions Arraez can actually play.
Schmidt has higher OPD+
Schmidt had a higher OPS+ than Arraez in both 2024 and 2025.
Based on stats, maybe they will platoon after the luster of a new acquisition begins to fade.
This move would make complete sense if the Giants intended to trade Eldridge, but I think that’s very, very unlikely.
Schmidt had 18 homers and 31 walks in his last 419 at bats.
Arráez had 8 homers and 34 walks in his last 620 at bats, or almost fifty percent more at bats.
In 630 at bats, Schmidt would be on base for 27 homers and 47 walks.
We know Schmidt is the better fielding 2B, but the hitting stats explain why Schmidt had the higher OPS+ in both 2024 and 2025.
Every base hit counts towards both OBP and SLG. Even singles. Walks only count towards OBP.
Arraez had a much higher OBP over the last two years than Schmitt. If Schmitt had a higher OPS+ each of the last two years, it was buoyed by power and park factor – not walks.
You are partly correct. A walk helps your OPS more than an out.
Schmidt hit way more homers – almost 350% of Arraez – and has more walks almost 150% of Arraez.
I do agree that a single is more useful than a walk on that base runners sometimes advance more, but when I look at the overall player profile Schmidt is the starter and Arraez maybe platoons with him and is a bench bat unless Eldridge starts in the minors or is traded.
My guess is that SF sees it differently and that Eldridge is DH, Devers is 1B and Arraez is 2B. I would have rather spent that $12 million to bring Verlander back, if that was an option.
If Eldridge doesn’t make MLB squad (21 years old) then you have added another bat to your team.
If Eldridge does not make the team, it could be that both Schmidt and Voss make team or Donovan or Abrams has been added.
I think that he is likely to be on the Opening Day roster but that ST results will matter.
Let’s not forget Schmitt had off-season surgery and might not be ready for 2026. If he’d been healthy coming into the season and carried his pre-injury success through the 2025 season the Giants probably don’t sign Arraez.
There’s also the chance SFG has a deal in place for Schmitt; hes a very good defensive 3B and his bat would play better in a smaller park along with improved batting skills as he matures. Also, SFG has Kilen and other middle infielders on the horizon making the 1 year deal for Arraez a smart move.
Dave
I did not consider that Schmidt was part of a deal with another team. Interesting idea.
I had heard that he would be ready for Opening Day.
Schmitt has a great glove and arm, but offensively he strikes out way too much, something the Giants already do too much. Arraez makes sense in that lineup and despite not having blazing speed, can steal bases.
How is Ron Washington gonna shore up the man’s pitiful defense at this point?? He’s not some kid, Arraez his been in the majors for many years and knows what he’s supposed to do to play the position – he’s physically incapable of doing it very well by MLB standards. Warsh is gonna do what about that??
Warsh is the new Fed Chairman. “Wash” is the Giants infield coach.
Bad defender, .327 OBP, zero power, had nearly 700 PA in a good lineup and did not even have 130 combined runs and RBIs last year.
Empty batting average, One Tool Talent!
If Arraez is the answer, what is the question?
“Defense? We don’t need no stinkin’ defense”-The San Francisco Giants.
Out of 2nd base actually
The Giants finally woke up and Arraez, great signing!
Interesting. Didn’t see him going to SF.
Good move for them.
It’d be a better move if he could still play second base
iIdon’t if ever could play 2b
I agree! 3 time batting champion at the top of your lineup.
He’ll get on base then be too slow to make any positive difference while he’s there haha
Joshb600 pounds.
Talking about too slow..
11 Sbs last year. Josh Naylor isn’t very fast either
He’s not too slow AND he’s a good baser stealer.
He has 31 career stolen bases against 17 caught stolen. He is, definitively, NOT a good base stealer.
PV
“He’s not too slow AND he’s a good baser stealer.”
25th percentile in sprint speed last year
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/luis-arraez-6…
Not in my bingo card, had the Rangers, but it’s a good spot. Casey Schmidt isn’t scaring anyone at 2b. Nice job by the Giants.
Higher OPS+ than Arraez last season
I don’t think anyone cares. He hit .237. Arraez is a great contact hitter.
31 other mlb teams cared about the mixed bag offense and horrible defense and war
Dude lead the league in batting average three times and still hit over a .290. Literally just reported that he was weighing multiple offers. Giants did well here.
Your opinion is already invalid when you claim there are 32 MLB teams
@Salzilla
I’d say Arraez is great at creating contact, but not generating quality contact. He makes some maddening swing decisions.
He still hits a boatload. Batting average being discounted these days is a farce. It’s a pure stat that values hitting.
He is a pure hitter there’s no doubt, but his game suffers (like it did in 2025) when his BABIP craters since he has no on-base predilection. Saw multiple instances of him swinging at ball 4 FBs well into the RHH batter’s box for fouls and pop ups or pitches well below the zone for slow rollers back to the pitcher. He desperately needs someone to pull him aside and tell him, especially with his speed, that a walk is as good as a single. He seems like a great baseball dude so I’m generally rooting for him to level up his game.
I agree seems like great dude and rooting for him.
Is it possible seeing how the market sees him that he can reinvent himself at all? Take a walk? Seems like a .300 hitter should have no problem posting a .350 obp
6th highest career batting average in the last 50 years.
@Tahoe Willie
I’m not sure, maybe it’s a wakeup call of sorts. Adjusting his approach would be the “easiest” way to improve his offense. I’m guessing there’s nothing to be done about the slow speed, but if he could upgrade his defense to “acceptable” at 2B it would go a long way. He’s still only 29.
If he was weighing multiple offers and settled for 1/$12M that probably means nobody else was offering much AAV-wise or he only received 1 year offers. Contact is his only skill really. No eye, no power, no speed, no baserunning, no defense.
Rarely strikes out but no eye…. right… he’s not perfect but base hits have been devalued in baseball because they discovered launch angle now everyone thinks they can hit 50hr
If you think about it for a second, which I know is hard for some people, you’d realize that for singles hitters like Arraez, all that really matters is on-base percentage, because a single and a walk are basically indistinguishable. And Arraez’ OBP is mediocre due to his putting everything in play weakly. Typically above average, but paired with absolutely nothing else, in fact negative value everywhere else.
I bet Seattle was one of the teams that was interested, but I doubt they would have offered 12 or anywhere near 12.
It would have been fun to see him work with Perry Hill for a couple of months on defense and Edgar & Kevin on offense.
Not as fun as seeing Marte or Hoerner on board, but those ships have probably sailed.
I’ve never really understood the “a walk is the same as a single” argument: a single can drive in runs and advance runners from first to third, whereas a walk generally cannot.
Look at his numbers compared to Ichiro it’s pretty shocking the similarity. Who knows what he’d be like working with Perry and it’s not the Mariners had studs out there last year defensively. They do not have a leadoff hitter plain and simple. Hitting Julio 1 and Cal 2 is stupid.
Ever see a guy on first get to third when the guy behind him walks ?
There’s your indistinguishable difference. Triples alley will play a big part in his doubles too.
You’d think so, but it’s because he can’t take a walk that he hasn’t posted a .350 OBP in either of the past two seasons, not even when he hit for a .314 AVG in 2024.
Last season he only managed a .327 OBP and an OPS+ of 99 despite his still good .292 AVG.
The article says he had multiple-year offers, just not any that would let him be a starting 2B. He took less money to play his preferred position, despite how much he sucks at it.
True, although, the saying does have more merit for a lead-off hitter like Arraez, who often bats with the bases empty and is guaranteed to do so his first time up.
I’m not sure what “a *pure* stat that values hitting” means. If *pure* means no adjustments for ERA, home ballpark, or other notable factors, then OBP and SLG are *pure* stats, too, and they do a significantly better job of valuing hitting than BA.
Batting average is meaningful largely for its historical prevalence, but just because it’s been used for over 150 years doesn’t mean it ever was a really good way to value a hitter.
I’m in NFL mode with the Super Bowl right now you are right
Maybe in 10 years they add the Nashville stars and Portland Portlanders
A walk is not always as good as a single if there are runners on base.
Get the bat on the ball and good things can happen. Didn’t realize he hit 8 HR’S last year. Having a guy on base multiple times per game every game will result in runs. And his K’s per game is very minute. 21 K’s for all of 2025. If Ron Washington helps Arraez on defense w lots of reps and tips, this signing gets even better.
A single can also get a guy trying to go from 1st to 3rd or from 2nd to home erased
Contact is what all hitters should prioritize. Might be a lot less whiffs if they did.
It’ll be fun to see him work with Ron Washington in spring training.
He has reportedly been working on his 2B defense this winter. We will see if it translates to in game performance. I am a Twins fan and really loved watching him. He needs to regain enough pop to get his SLG over .410. He has done that in the past. If he can reduce swinging at junk until two strikes, and then sacrifice some strikeouts for power and walks, I think the Giants would take that slight offensive improvement.
As for his D, his range will never be good, but he should be able to at least make the routine plays. I can’t see how a one year contract can hurt the Giants. Arraez isn’t blocking a top prospect at 2nd long term.
If you think about it for a second , you’d realize a single is better than a walk with men on base
Nothing to hear here
He made a mistake, you must be proud of yourself for putting him down.
MH
“realize a single is better than a walk”
Batting average people: a single is better than a walk
Me, a wise wOBA person: Yes. And a double is better than a single, a triple is better than a double, and a home run is better than a triple.
Straightup:The other way to look at it is opponents pitch counts are rising because of all the foul balls. Doesn’t have to be hard contact to be a batting champion 3 times. Except for HR’s you have to be on base to score runs. Last I checked scoring more runs actually wins games. At least until DJT changes the way the game will be played.
Sorry, I;’m pretty sure SEA was not interested, even if it cost $6M.
$12M is ridiculous for a guy with one skill.
Mariner: Aren’t pitchers one skill players also? I would think they probably are. Makes Arraez very cheap compared to some of the pitchers salaries out there.
mf
“$12M is ridiculous for a guy with one skill.”
Ridiculous is thinking that players get paid based on the number of skills that they have
They get paid based on how much they produce in total
Though, of course, the more more skills you have the more ways you have to produce
so he gets on via a single. he doesn’t run at all, so you still need at least a double to get him in.
seems incapable of taking a walk. only hits singles, can’t play 1b let alone 2b, doesn’t run at all, yeah 12 million sounds about right, huh?!!!!!!!
well Ichiro had some power, great speed and played great defense. so pretty similar? you want a guy who doesn’t clog the bases.
Just not being asked to bunt 16 times in a season will help him tremendously. Wth was the Padres manager thinking taking the bat out of his hands that much.
Seam, Arraez is 26th in OBP over the past 3 years. He is one of the very best at that.
A walk is worth 40% less than a single in Run Expectancy overall.
Try looking things up before commenting.
What’s better?? A strikeout, or a double play bc you insist on making crappy contact?
For one thing, Jazzy, I’ve always liked you here, don’t offend me by saying “maybe watch a game”, I’m not a spring chicken and have watched a tons of games in my lifetime. I’ve also owned this dude multiple years in fantasy so I quite know his value offensively very well. The dude is not a negative to teams.
Salzilla,
Fantasy baseball value and real-world value are not necessarily the same thing. And even in fantasy, he’s a significant contributor in one (BA), maybe two (runs), categories.
What I’m saying is I’m not just a stat reader. I’ve watched baseball for a loooong time, and to hear what honestly JUST sounds like stat reading instead watching the games calling me out is really odd. The fantasy part of it is just me actually using stats in practice so when I spout stuff on these forums I don’t sound like a dodo*.
*adding that’s secondary to actually playing, lol.
He does have a career .366 OBP, so he does have a track record of getting on base more than the average shmoe.
Bad defender, .327 OBP, zero power, had nearly 700 PA in a good lineup and did not even have 130 combined runs and RBIs.
Moonlight,
He’s been below his career. 363 OBP the last two seasons as hi BA has fallen. He has one tool, and it’s getting worse.
Singles and plenty of double plays. He is also slow. 29 teams passed on him. As he gets older/slower his value is less. Never walks, terrible defense. He cant be a DH with zero power. When you look at guys like Mattingly and Boggs, they were far ahead of what Arraez can do. That contact means plenty of DPS and the guy never walks.
I am sure he was told to take a walk on occassion.
@straight up
Anyone who told you a walk is as good as a hit taught you wrong.
Its a fantasy league mentality.
How many runners for go first to third on a walk? How many score from second? I’d say the two things are pretty distinguishable.
Per linear weights, wOBA, and wRC+, cumulatively, a single is in the range of 30%-50% more valuable than a walk. Of course, that percentage will vary significantly in each situation.
burn
@M’sHacker- Rarely striking out isn’t because he has a great eye, iy’s because of contact skills. Look at his OBP and swing rate on out of the zone pitches.
“No eye” with that batting average and OBP? And he steals bases. Come on!
Pete,
“he steals bases.”
Really??? A season high of 11 and 31 in his career at a success rate under 65%. Yeah, he steals bases occasionally and poorly.
They are all weighing multiple offers….
Arreaz was below average in pitches seen last year and is in the bottom 25 % of hard hit rate. The only way he becomes productive is if he returns to his 22/23 averages.
This is the hope that he bounces back to that level.
@Pete- Pete. What are you talking about? His OBP compared to his BA sucks lol. His BB rate for his career is 6.5%. That’s well below average. His BB rates his last 2 seasons are 4.3% and 3.1%. Those are legitimately awful. We’re talking 15th percentile BB rates and lower. He has no command of the strike zone. He just makes great contact.
“…a single and a walk are basically indistinguishable:”
Not quite. A single with men on base can be (and usually is) more productive than a walk.
Arraez GIDP rate is better than league average.
Rob, his GIDP rate is below or better than league average.
A couple people pointed it out: a single is indeed more valuable than a walk. I should’ve phrased it as “in many situations, a walk can be as good as a single”. After watching Luis for ~2 seasons, his game is either in decline or the Padres couldn’t get his best Twins/Marlins performance out of him. The contact is amazing, but it’s empty, and compounded by the fact that Luis is chasing pitches well out of the zone to look for his pitch to drive (and bizarrely sitting on a lot of hittable pitches in the zone). It’s like the hitting version of a Joe Blanton who fills the zone (leading to great peripherals) and mediocre results. mab51357 pointed out P/PA and I think there is value there, but Arraez was 123rd/147 for qualified hitters. He doesn’t get in deep counts and he doesn’t punish pitchers. I really enjoy watching his game from a baseball fan perspective, btw, it’s just not valuable in its current form.
Bitb
“his GIDP rate is below or better than league average.”
Arraez’ career DP% is 11.7
League average is 9.9%
Luis Arráez Batting Stats | Baseball-Reference.com share.google/zrc47yW6fXAa1kUCt
Why are you trying to quote 7 years for Arraez and quote only last year for MLB? Last season he was at 9.2% and MLB was 9.9%
OBP matters for him more than most players, but it’s not the only thing that matters. You can’t score from second on a walk or go to 3rd from first. Unless the bases are loaded, you can’t even score from 3rd on a walk.
While it is not as valuable as it used to be, I think batting average has actually been underrated of late. A good example of that was the Blue Jays steamrolling pitching staffs in the playoffs after leading the league in average.
The difference between him and Ichiro was that Ichiro was a speedster. He would be a lot more valuable if he had that type of speed. His average would probably be a lot higher too; since he would be able to beat out infield hits.
Jaysfan,
Ichiro also was a terrific fielder with a cannon arm.
Arraez has one tool, and it seems to be declining.
And a far FAR better fielder.
And yet, the Giants felt the n3ed to replace him…
Let’s just say their GM was a much better player than he is an executive. Which is usually the case with great players.
Seam head, you’re a complete idiot and a moron if you think Posey is bad at his job. pull your head out and pay attention.
Nobody uses OPS+ it’s a lame make-believe stat. Means absolutely nothing.
Ignorant,
You certainly earned your username with that comment.
Rangers have been actively cutting payroll, I can’t see them adding anyone of significance
They’ll probably play him for 6 innings, and if they have the lead, pull him.
Had the Dbacks here (not sure that line of thinking that far back). Good signing for them, which Arraez can get slap happy in those spacious confines.
There were a few teams that could’ve used him.
Not when he can’t consistently hit it hard enough to split the outfielders. Outfield will pinch in, especially with the bases empty and in advantageous counts, where his lack of plate discipline exposes him.
I called him going to SF about an hour before it happened. Perfect spot for him to go.
It definitely works. That infield offense should be stellar.
Eh, you said Rockies too. DQ. No points awarded. You lose. Try again.
How did you get his phone number?
A full season and healthy, Schmidt is easily a 20 homer guy in SF, and probably a 30 homer guy in a lot of ballparks.
I think this move is a mistake for the Giants.
Unless they trade him for Joe Ryan.
Do twins need infield help. I thought the same thing ogf
Dude, they’re the Twins !
They need help everywhere. Biggest problem right now is finding the right guy who can even make the trade..
oldgfan—
I’d vote for that!
Sadler: I’ve been saying since the season ended that the Giants should give Casey the full time 2B job for the same reasons. But that’s not happening now. Casey will be the UTH hitter and late inning defense replacement. He will also step in for Devers, Chapman, Adames and Arraez where needed. So he should still get plenty of AB’s
@mab
Yeah, and those are the kinds of at-bats where he’ll never get in any kind of rhythm; he won’t be productive and everybody will say “I told you so”
Wow! Well alright.
lol Giants are dumb
It’s a one year deal. Hard for those to be “dumb”.
Well now the Giants have one, if not the worst defense on the right side of the infield in all of baseball.
Dumb seems accurate
Rafi was pretty good learning on the fly at first last year. Really good instincts. I expect him to be average or better in a full season.
Know knows with Eldridge, but be looked pretty serviceable for as green as he is.
2nd will be weak most days, but I expect plenty of late inning pinch hit against lefties to defensive sub for Schmitt.
Giants are lucky to have Chapman and Adames on the left side because Arraez and Devers will be liabilities
Not a Giants fan at all, the defense will be much better with Ron Washington as their coach..
Don’t know how many Giants games you watched, but to my eyes, Devers looked surprisingly adroit at 1B. Especially since he was learning the position on the fly. Raffi also admitted he tends to hit better when playing the field, and the numbers certainly looked that way. More fully engaged in the game, or something.
As it stands, Devers is definitely the better choice to field 1B, when the other options are Arraez and Eldridge. Not saying Devers is going to win a gold glove at 1B or anything. But Raffi looked way better fielding the position than could be reasonably expected.
Why? What does he know that other MLB infield coaches don’t know??
Devers was fine at 1B. He’ll have a lot more reps in ST and will be fine on defense. 1B is a little easier than 3B. All things considered it was a good signing to bring Arraez in.
Devers fielding issues at 3B with the Sox was mainly on balls to his left side and throwing.
At first base these issues take care of themselves. He already looks fine.
devers is probably the DH. especially now with arraez at 2b
nobody can turn coal into gold
Devers hit .170 and had a 58 OPS+ as a 1B. He hit .273 and had 142 OPS+ as a DH.
Bitb
“Devers hit .170 and had a 58 OPS+ as a 1B. He hit .273 and had 142 OPS+ as a DH.”
Cool story
Absolutely no reason to think that that will continue
They midas well try.
You say that but right about now he’s on his way to Taco Bell or a buffet somewhere
Arraez is an awful defensive 2B. Devers does not impress defensively at 1B, but he did not stand out as bad either.
Please don’t rock the narrative with your facts.
But you can turn it into a diamond, geologically speaking.
Devers—as we saw last year—is perfectly capable at 1b.
Superman does it in seconds.
RSM:Still bitter. Get over it please.
Santa can….
It is what happened. The person I was responding to said he was better while playing 1B. He wasn’t.
Absolutely no reason to question what actually happened unless you just want to argue and troll.
Bitb
“Absolutely no reason to question what actually happened unless you just want to argue and troll.”
Maybe your site looks much different than mine, but what I see gives no way to tell what comment or what commenter one is responding to and you didn’t make that clear.
So, I stand by my comment.
He may have performed better as a DH, but there is no reason to expect that to continue.
What’s dumb is they’re sitting a better player in favor of Arraez.
At least they didn’t pay 20 million for a guy who had an ops below 650. and also will miss half of the year.
it’s not like they knew he was going to get hurt and they badly needed a shortstop anyway
Damn dbacks this is a great hitter man
He didn’t weigh his options that much apparently.
He used AI.?
He asked Alexa but she’s a Dodgers fan deferred over the next 65 years.
another original thought
It’s February. His options were weighed on a kitchen scale.
probably lucky he got that offer. teams should have waited to sign him to a minor league deal
What part of he had multiple offers for multiple years but turned them down for an opportunity to play 2B did you not understand?
He went to the team that would let him play his preferred position, 2B. If he proves he can play it adequately, he just upped his future earnings. He’s betting on himself.
That Giants line-up is looking pretty good!
Not sure he’s better than Casey Schmitt. In fact I’m pretty sure he’s not. And he’s not playing 1B unless they’re now gonna trade Eldridge. Weird move.
He had led the league in BA three times and hits twice including last season. And Schmidt has done what?
Had a higher OPS+ last year and played far better defense? Which is kind of the two things that baseball players do? You really need to stop harping on AVG. No one cares.
OPS+ is interesting, but the game is more complicated than one simple stat!
Lol speak for yourself
That’s why they use very complicated stats like OPS+ and especially wOBA and wRC+.
You’re right, so stop looking at solely Batting Average which is arguably the simplest stat.
Oh help! Math is hard!
You not caring is not the same as no one. Batting average is the scarcest commodity in baseball. There is value in that.
Who is ONLY looking at average? The problem is many don’t look at it at all. You may be one of them. I’m betting you had Joey Gallo on your fantasy team.
Casey strikes out too much.
Gallo is a very interesting comparison.
The two could end up with very similar WAR through close to the same number of career games (at season’s end).
Obviously very different players, but similar value by WAR.
And in fantasy, does Arraez come out ahead?
Empty batting average vs bad batting average with power.
Yes. Seems like something else is cooking.
I look at this as a slightly expensive, one year insurance coverage for Eldridge.
If everyone is healthy and raking, Schmitt is an over qualified utility infielder. That’s probably not going to happen. Arraez is nice flexibility.
Ryan
You have the best explanation. What if Giants plan to start Eldridge in the minors on Opening Day 2026. I don’t think that it is the answer, but it would support the move. Then Arraez would play either DH or 1B.
Even according to the Giants, Eldridge’s glove is not ready for prime time. The plan was always to play Eldridge at DH and Devers at 1B, and that’s *if* Bryce hits enough in spring training to make the big league club.
That 31% career K-rate (34% in the bigs) is worrisome, to put it mildly. And the kid is doesn’t turn 22 until October. Another year to polish his game in AAA might not be the worst move.
As for Casey Schmitt, being an overqualified backup infielder is a nice luxury for the Giants to have. We all know injuries happen, opening up lots of AB’s for Schmitt. As it, Schmitt will get plenty of scheduled starts around the infield, just like Arraez will get plenty of reps at both 2B and DH. Can also see Schmitt serving as a defensive replacement at 2B in the later innings becoming a regular occurrence.
I agree with everything you said except I’m not (yet) very worried about Eldridge’s K rate.
He’s been rushed at every level – especially for a kid drafted out of HS. He’s still very much a work in progress, and I’m struck by his confidence and determination to excel on both sides of the ball.
First potential .300 hitter since Posey in 2017. Fills a need, decent price on 1 year deal. Finally a move I’m ok with.
This is not a good move but at least the giants finally did get a contact hitter
Haha
ZenPoop
AAVs are absolutely crazy this season.
Yeah if he’s getting $12M, no way are my Pirates getting Suarez. He should get at least $20M per year even if his market is not robust.
It’s a one year deal. AAVs are always inflated on a one year deal.
no one seems interested in Suarez though. maybe 10 million or less one year deal.
Sandlo:Not that you asked but I see Suarez at 2 years at 40M. I also believe he goes back to the Mariners. Only a hunch though.
Pirates, Snakes, Red Sox and Mariners. As the number of openings goes down, so does the price.
So will he be their everyday 2b or platoon with Schmitt? $12mm is reasonable I suppose but still a weird move nonetheless.
Interestingly, Schmitt had pretty stark reverse splits last year.
schmitt has options. See him going to AAA and called up when Chapman gets hurt. Koss will be backup IF and late inning 2B sub.
Man didn’t see him getting over $8m
Neither did a bunch of people. Certainly not what he received.
thought he’d get a minor league deal
Yeah, I figured 1 year 8 million, and still an overpay.
Nice move by the Giants!
2023 was arguably his best season, when I played 134 games at 2nd base. Some dudes just like knowing where they will play and what spot in the line up they will hit out of. Going to be a big year for Luis.
He
yep big on hits and errors. they will move him to first with Devers at DH soon enough
Obviously he doesn’t have much in the way of power and he’s not a speed demon, but still an excellent contact hitter. One of my favorite things to gauge for hitters is how many total walks they have compared to strikeouts. Arraez sitting at 230 walks to 215 strikeouts. That’s a good hitter in my book, good things happen when you put the ball in play.
No one is questioning his contact ability or his prowess to not strikeout. It’s just that his contact is weak and he doesn’t really offer much of anything else.
Oh I agree, if he can become a decent/solid fielder, his contact bat plays far better than otherwise. Right now he’s very much just a good hit/contact guy. There are roles for such players, but adding a decent glove would extend his career so much further.
Dannys: He had 8 HR and 30 doubles. He will most likely increase the doubles because of the big outfield at Oracle.
This just shows that front offices realize that while “he doesn’t really offer much of anything else,”what he does offer is enough and has value. You may be forgiven for not drafting him on your fantasy team.
That’s an extremely low walk total. What he does is put everything (ball, strike, whatever) in play weakly. Teams play their infield back (since has statue-like speed) and outfield in. He makes a lot of quick outs, but is gifted enough to slip some by infields or dink in front of outfields. It’s a profile that worked for defensive specialists for a long time, but he’s not that by a long shot.
Yeah I mean, I just don’t see how his profile would command any significant money. His profile is not that appealing, at least to me personally. With that amount of contact he makes he’s bound to get hits that’s a given. But the rest of his skill set doesn’t inspire much of anything else.
For me, if he just adds a serviceable glove he becomes so much more valuable. But that is literally all on him. The hit talent is there, low strikeouts/low walks, essentially cancels each other out. If he can be a serviceable fielder, that would make up for a lot.
@seamaholic
Who are these defensive specialists that got by while winning batting titles and leading the league in hits?
how is his defense at second? somewhere between passable and atrocious?
Other sife of atocious
Tyruss: Buy a couple letters to finish your post. I get in a hurry and do the same at times but always review before I post.
It’s a Fitzgerald novel
Always look on the bright sife of life.
@dasit
Remember the Indiana Jones movie when they’re just about to open the Ark of Covenant and Indy tells Marrion not to look?
fantastic
Lol
Is he going to play second? Not a lot of other spots if they want Eldridge to get playing time.
Cant hate this move with not having to give up any of our prospects and we improved at 2B at least a bit offensively. Maybe he bats leadoff or at the bottom but either way it gives Tony V one more option to build the lineup. I love our MI prospects and hope this can help bridge the gap to when one of them can step up.
Best case scenario, Casey Schmitt undeniably wins the 2B job out of spring training, and Arraez becomes one of the best (although overpriced) bench bats in baseball. Depth is so important in today’s MLB.
Adding another quality bat to the roster is never a bad move. Between 2B, DH, 1B and pinch hitting, Arraez will get tons of AB’s. And who knows, maybe win a batting title for the SF Giants! Hasn’t happened since Buster Posey in 2012. Before that, it was Barry Bonds in 2004 & 2002. And before that, you have to go back to New York days (Willie Mays in 1954).
One of the few spots he could get his wish to play 2B. Good add to the top of their lineup. If they add another starter they could make some noise. I was hoping the Tigers would add him to DH. Guess Harris is sitting this offeseasin out unless he pivots to Suarez.
Being reported at $12 million. Not a fan of this. Give Schmitt, Koss & Fitz a chance, which I know they will get, but you can probably kiss Valdez or any other top tier starter
Rog: Fitzgerald had an extended look last year and flopped. Sent to AAA and wasn’t much better. I see Koss as AAA insurance. First call up if someone gets injured. I do agree on Schmitt though.
Schmitt and Fitz have had their chances. Koss is good when he gets a chance to play. This is a perfectly sensible move by the Giants who need a contact guy, even if he doesn’t have major pop. He did have 30 doubles last year,
And Schmitt needs to start at 3b for another team.
Petes: With Koss I’m always worried that winds at Oracle are going to pick him up and deposit him in McCovey Cove. Dude needs to put on some muscle so he can be seen in the batters box. He’s scrappy though.
It was a brief weigh in, apparently.
I’m actually shocked both that he received that large an offer AND they intend on playing him at 2nd base because his defense stinks.
Just my opinion, but we will see how this works out.
Really a bad team. Lucky if get 4th. Rockies might be better.
Okay troll
Never:Mr. Dumas
NL West opponents will be happy to see that defense at 2nd
Tyruss:NL West opponents will be unhappy when they see his bat 4-5 times a game.
mab
He’s been a league average hitter the last few years.
He’s ok hitter. Far from a great one
JUJH:never said he was great. Not going to be tough to out perform what we put out at 2B the whole first half in 2025. That improves the team.
Good luck, Arreaz…thanks for your time as a Friar!!!
Makes sense. Better get ready for balls galore getting past tho
12 million for 1.0-1.2 WAR seems like a bit of an overpay.
All Major League contracts are crazy.
The number seems crazy on the surface but teams are valuing 1 WAR at about $8M these days. I think he’s completely capable of putting up a 1.5 WAR season. Fangraphs projects him at 1.4.
Re: 2B defense, Giants have Ron Washington now and perhaps they believe that he can work with him and that factored into them feeling comfortable playing him there.
Teams have their own evaluations. Its kinda cute you think they use WAR.
I’m not a big fan of Schmitt, but I think I’d rather have him than Arraez.
Methinks you get both.
In game platoons. Late innings for Casey.
Not sure that’s any better. It would be different if one of them was good defensively at 2B, and the other a good hitter. Schmitt is better defensively, though still subpar. Arraez is better making contact, while Schmitt has more power. They’d be better if you could combine them into one player, but even then you’d get a below average guy.
Buster knew Donovan wasn’t coming to SF so he pivoted to Arraez. It should tell us something that, as flawed a player as Arraez is, that Buster seems to still prefer him over Schmitt.
Was definitely a pivot. Don’t think Buster was keen on giving up any picks. One year for Arraez is good though. I see them now trying to fast track Killen to see if he can be ready.
If not, go after Hoerner @ deadline or in FA next year.
There were no picks to lose. The only tradeable picks are competitive balance picks and the Giants don’t have any. Maybe that was the difference in why he went to the M’s and not the Giants.
I think Kilen is a long shot. He was only at A ball last season, and isn’t on the 40 man. It’s more likely they’ll take a look at Velasquez who was at AA last season, or better yet, Ahuna, who played High A, though neither one of them is on the 40 man either
But Velasquez is a year older than Kilen and Ahuna is 2 years older. Ahuna projects to be the better fielder with 60 scores for Run, Arm, and Field, while Kilen has the better bat with a 60 for his hit tool.
Was thinking Kilen mainly because he’s another contact hitting guy that they really need, and the collegiate experience with the new skipper. don’t know much about Velasquez, but Maui is an interesting option.
Yeah, Kilen has a really good hit tool. But, assuming he starts at High A, I have a hard time seeing him go from there to MLB in a single season. He does have the college experience, but he won’t turn 22 until later next month, and has only one year of pro ball. It’s asking a lot for a guy that age to handle going from High A, or AA to MLB in a season.
Ahuna has a great glove, and I hope he’ll improve his hitting. I mentioned Velasquez since he’s older. He has a good hit tool, but lacks power, but I’m okay with that for 2B. He also fields, runs and throws well. He has a 55 Hit, a 50 Arm, a 50 Run, and a 50 Field. His overall though is only a 40, due to his weenie 35 Power.
I seem to remember Ahuna got a ST invite last year and really did well. Maybe enough to get another one this year. He was hitting well then, and not just singles if I remember correctly.
Oh thank God, thanks and good luck Luis.
Despite my misgivings, I think Arraez 1/$12M is a very fair deal. He’s probably the most BABIP-susceptible player in the league. If he could juuuuuust learn to take some walks, it would work wonders for his game and he could be a solid offensive piece or trade bait if SF pivots.
More walks would be nice, but I’d settle for him swinging at mostly strikes.
You can only do so much making contact on crappy pitches. The lack of power only amplifies that point since the balls aren’t really stung.
Solid signing for 1/12m. Wouldn’t love him at 2b everyday but I would imagine he and Devers will see plenty of time at DH.
@padrepapi
I agree, the swing decisions are the overaching issue.
I guess you would prefer a hard hit out than a soft single? Swinging as hard as you can on every pitch does not result in high batting averages. Arraez is not comparable in size to Judge or Ohtani. His hard hit balls won’t often leave the field. Hitting is his craft. His results show he knows what he is doing.
Yes, process > results. Someone hitting the ball on the screws is almost always going to post better results than a soft contact guy in a large enough sample size, it’s basic physics (there can be an extreme with selling out for EV/LA undercuts performance, of course). He knows himself and his game, but his one tool leaves him subject to high levels of variance Y2Y and I’d argue that having to settle for a one-year deal in FA @ 29 that’s less than what he was making in arbitration also says a lot about his value.
Not a Mariner. 3rd base/outfield please. Andujar for 2yrs around 12MM?
Bring back Willians Astudillo! At least he could pitch and pretend to catch. Plus he’s shorter and fatter than Arraez which are his only selling points outside of the hit tool.
Leadoff hitter I’d guess. Some one to get on base in front of Adames, Devers and Chapman.
He doesn’t really get on base a lot. Never walks. Giants have several better OBP guys.
If he’s only signing for one year, he should have gotten $15M. Short-term deals are supposed to be for a higher value than the per annum on a multi-year contract. That’s always been the narrative from agents anyway…
I’m definitely liking the Giants lineup. Might be the best they’ve had in years. I understand at this point it’s only on paper. Still have to play the games. Hopefully Arraez gets some defensive knowledge from Ron Washington. Arraez will score a bunch of runs hitting in front of Devers, Adames and Chapman. Buster doing a fine job thus far. Giants attendance will be robust too.
Career .317 hitter – so there’s that……..
Lol someone on sbnation says Conforto is next!
Would have been fun to see what kind of line a good luck Arraez season would’ve looked like in Coors, ah well.
Wonder if that makes Schmitt available. Could see the Pirates making an offer since he’d be cheap and would likely be better defensively on the left side of the infield than Nick G.
Schmitt’s creek?
Too soon
they will need someone for defense in late innings that can at least hit too
I love that there was a story today saying he’ll sign with the first team that says he can play 2B and hours later we see a team swoop in and confirm he can second
at least he hardly K’s which is far different from rest of Giants.
He can be a good table setter for Devers, Adames, and Chapman
now they have to deal Fitzgerald, Koss or Schmidt or DFA — I can see them DFA the lesser defensive player out of Fitz/Koss.
Schmidt is the best hitter, Koss is the better defender but Fitz is more versatile. They all have options remaining. With pitchers and catchers 10 days away and Rodriguez headed for the 60 day IL they may be able to stall a bit and keep them all.
Fitz.
That was fast.
Seems fair for both sides. There are no bad one-year contracts, especially going into a potential strike
Giants have an interesting lineup all of a sudden
Arraez
Chapman
Devers
Adames
Eldridge
Matos
Bailey
Bader
Lee
You think Matos is starting over Ramos? It could happen but i doubt it
‘Twas a typoish mistake, I did mean Ramos, but now that I screwed that up they will obviously have to trade him for Bubic. Also in the category of it could happen, but doubt it.
I wonder what kind of contract Tony Gwynn would get in today’s environment
Probably something similar. Gwynn is fortunate he played in the era he did, because in today’s baseball world most would focus on his perceived weaknesses. Imagine in your mind someone whining the following in a nasally voice: “He doesn’t have enough power. He has no speed and he’s overweight. He’s meh in the field.” Stat heads would be dumping all over Gwynn.
Take it from someone who compared him superficially to Gwynn before watching him everyday: Arraez to Gwynn is a very lazy comp.
solaris, you think Tony would get about the same as Arraez if he were a FA today at that same point in his career?
He was a 6 win player, stealing 35 bags per 162, putting up a 136 OPS+, winning 2 gold gloves, finishing in the top 10 in MVP voting 3 out of 5 years (11th and 22nd the other 2 seasons). Basically, a star.
Arraez put up a 103 OPS+ these past two seasons, doesn’t walk, no speed, minimal defensive value.
Brutal take comparing an expected Tony contract to what Arraez settled for.
In today’s world, Gwynn wouldn’t have gotten those MVP votes, because of those things he didn’t do. WAR hadn’t taken over yet. I don’t know if he would have won gold gloves, as hitting stats were almost a requirement to winning one then, (AKA Jeter). He also didn’t play in a big market or often go to the playoffs. I doubt he would be looked at in the same way.
Tony Gwynn led the league in WAR twice. In today’s world where WAR has taken over, he’d have won a couple MVP awards instead of merely getting some votes.
I will say his gold gloves were likely undeserved. But there’s no way to look at any advanced stats on Gwynn without the stat line screaming hall of famer at you, and there’s no way he wouldn’t get paid at an elite level.
You mean the Tony Gwynn that finished with 300+ stolen bases and was a defensively neutral player and not a complete butcher, the one who was a doubles machine, with a career 132 OPS+ as well as being an 8 time batting champion? That Tony Gwynn?
20’s Tony Gwynn had 4 seasons with at least 30 Stolen Bases to go along with the batting titles and leading the league in hits. He would certainly get something in the $20-25 million range
Tony Gwynn would have no problem securing a multi year deal in this day an age. The problem isn’t a knock on their ability to have contact. It’s that Arraez doesn’t walk, have power, or play good defense. Tony Gwynn at least walked and had extra base power. Gwynn looks like a 800 ops guy, those guys get paid.
Seeing as he hit for a higher average, took more walks and got more extra-base hits…and during his peak, stole far more bases and was a good defender….probably a lot more money.
The idea that Gwynn was some sort of one-tool player is a myth. And I’m not even a total Arraez hater, but he is very much a one-tool player.
Tony would have gotten paid.
Assuming he was going into free agency at the same age Arraez was now he would have had the following:
Past 5 years:
6.4 bWAR per 162
OPS+: 136
35 SB per 162
61 BB per 162 (35 k’s)
4 top 11 MVP
2 Gold Gloves
Both Gwynn and Arraez had 3 batting titles at that point and neither was a homerun hitter, but Gwynn stole bases as frequently as he struck out, won gold gloves and took a walk. Arraez would be loaded today if he could say the same.
baseball-reference.com/players/g/gwynnto01.shtml#1…
A young tony Gwynn had two 6+ war seasons and a 7+ war season. He’d get paid.
Older tony was usually 2-4 war.
Going by war Old tony had more value than Arraez
Love the player, not crazy about the fit.
Was hoping Rockies/Rangers/Pirates
if he is as terrible at 2nd base as they say, can’t really see them camping him at 1b/dh with Devers/Eldridge blocking the way for years
But, its a one year deal and this team is probably selling off at the trade deadline
Giants are making the postseason
Good move for the Giants. The idea that an on-base machine like Arraez is someone you DON’T want on your team because he lacks value according to some specious sabermetric pseudo-statistics is ridiculous. Things have come to the point that having a high batting average is seen by some fans, weaned on rotisserie leagues rather than actually watching baseball games, as a mark AGAINST a player. It is madness. Arraez will win some games for the Giants.
@Alan53
You remember the last CBA where owners proposed to use fWAR to replace the traditional arbitration system? It’s an evolved game today with evolved statistics. Evaluating players based on batting average and RBIs is antiquated.
@Creature: I don’t think the owners’ suggestion was, uh, disinterested.
If babip bounces back, he’ll probably get near .350 obp, at least. Though he hasn’t hit that mark since 2023 season.
Course, if he tops his personal best obp and gets .400+, that’d be great.
Lots of us Padre fans were frustrated Arraez was glued into the leadoff spot all year. His .327 OBP was not much better than league average (.318).
For whatever reason he’s really started to chase like crazy. He was in the 11th and 15th percentile in chasing these past two years with SD. In 2021 & 2022 he was in the 78th & 79th percentile. To top it off his walks have seen a huge drop too as he was in the 50th percentile those same years with the Twins and pretty much quit walking as he was in 3rd and 10th percentile these past two years.
He’s still in his 20’s and a great dude so I hope he gets back to doing what made him such a better player a few years ago and is able to become more disciplined.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/luis-arraez-6…
Giants putting down a few traffic cones for right side D. Next level Jedi mind trick by his agent repping a 1 tool droid.
A one year deal for a hit machine? Not bad. But nobody ever wants to keep him. Gotta assume most teams don’t seem he’s worth his value but Giants got him. It’s probably a solid move as long as the giants keep him out of the field.
Look at the Padres winning pct with him and without him.
Ron Wash gonna be busy with that fungo bat hitting to the right side with Arraez and Devers.
I thought he was going to get a minor league invite. Good job Agent.
I think he was always destined to get a major league deal.
No matter how empty his .292 was, he still played above replacement level. That has value. Even the best teams have often had a 1-1.5 guy in the starting lineup. It’s not ideal but guys like him can plug a gap.
Don’t mind watching a hit. All good here.
Fair price. Slightly steep, but fine on a one year deal. I had a weird feeling he’d go to a team like the Giants. Borderline contenders with a borderline roster that isn’t quite there, but might’ve viewed Arraez as a 4-D chess type of signing.
That’ll net a decent prospect at the deadline maybe.
This Padre fan is heart broken. Thank you for being such an awesome player for us!
Wanted Seattle to sign him so bad. They needed a leadoff hitter
They should trade for Donovan. Hits pretty well, can play multiple positions decently and should be cost-effective the next 2 years.
Huge park perfect for singles
The old schoolers want to compare him to Gwynn. Gwynn had speed and D especially when he was younger. What is the point of baseball? To score runs. If your to slow to score from second on a single. Then what is the point? We talk about the tools. We just don’t rank them.
1. Hit for power
2. Defense
3. Speed
4. Hit for contact
5. Arm strength
Gywnn also had power which he *chose not* to use. Arguably a five-tool player. Arraez is one-tool.
Everytime I see you post I get the uncurable urge to pop in my Berserk Blu-Ray.
Yea and Arraez will hit 30 plus doubles with 10. And lead the league in hits again.
If he gets out of the gates hott early..
Watch him hit .375 or .385 with the Giants the whole first half.
He’s a stud
He’ll probably end up being a 30 or 35 career war guy when all is said and done with a sneaky H.O.F. case to boot.
He will be lucky to get close to 30 WAR. Last 2/3 years he’s been a 1.0 WAR player. Let’s say he plays another 7 years, which I highly doubt. At a 1.0 WAR rate which he has been doing the last couple years he will end up at 22-23 WAR. We also have to account for decline as he ages, so 30 WAR seems unrealistic. He’s definitely not a Hall of Famer.
How freakish is it to have a batting average higher than your BABIP? Especially for a guy who doesn’t hit home runs.
I really like Luis. He may not fit the padres but I will root for him to do well.
So many comments about Arraez’s defense by people who very likely did not even watch him play. I am a Padres fan. I watched a majority of the actual games. He’s not the terrible defender that many of these commenters make him out to be. Giants fans: this is a great addition to your team. You got a player that will give you 100%. As far as hitting, the guy is a rare talent. Hardly ever strikes out. Gifted contract hitter. He had a “down year” in 2025, hitting “only” .292. I guess I’m old school, because I appreciate players like Arraez. Will miss him in SD, for sure.
It’s not about what you see. It’s what you don’t see. The balls he didn’t get. The POs he failed to get because of arm strength. People always swear Jeter was a great defender because he made routine look spectacular.
Correct on Jeter, over-rated as SS. So many plays he simply did not or could not make as a low range infielder. Do not understand paying nearly this much for a high average, low power, defensive liability at 2B when so many other better defensive infielders can be had for much less money.
Always a fan of Arraez in San Diego. He did well at first base, played a reasonable second bag, and gave DH some life. Besides being a good hitter, he’s a good teammate for his fellow players and the organization. We need slug in SD. That ain’t his thing but I’m sorry to see him go.
Good for the Giants. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
He needs to hit leadoff and hopefully the team will convince him not to take strike one down the middle nearly every at bat. Loved his energy and passion. Didn’t love his rally killing soft fly outs to left and left center. Biggest mistake shildt made last year was batting tatis first and arreaz second all year long. Stubborn manager and glad he’s gone. Don’t see arreaz sticking at 2nd base. He will not hit enough even if he has 350 oba to make up for the bad defense.
But maybe the giants can teach him patience
Great move! Gives you a good leadoff hitter, you need everything in that division.
The 1 year deal sets them up to go after Hoerner next off season.
How is this an improvement at 2nd base? Arraez’ OPS+ last year was 99. Schmitt’s was 101. Schmitt would provide better defense than Arraez. This just looks like slapping lipstick on a pig in an effort to say “hey, we improved 2nd base!”
They probably like that Arraez is also a credible stopgap at 1B/DH (compared to some other options) if Eldridge proves unable to hit major league pitching or Devers gets hurt.
Considering his defense even at 1st base, just about anyone is a credible stopgap at 1st base.
Numbers don’t lie I guess but I thought he was pretty good on defense. Always been weird to me how he is valued
The dude can barely play 1st base, what makes them think he can play second
Let’s see what Ron Washington can make of him
It’s not that hard, Scott: tell him Wash!
He used to. Very very badly, but he does know the position.
5:21 Arraez weighing deals
6:44 Arraez signs
That was quick!
Nobody expects the Posey Inquisition!
If the dude would take a walk he would be much better. He has no spread, terrible defense and has no power.
While he will get his hits. He has to hit .330 to be a good offensive players. Even with that his defense and base running brings down his value.
Now it is possible that he does hit .330.
He is a great teammate and fun guy to route for.
Fun guy to route for: nice to hear, postman! Who else do you deliver to mail chimp?
Remember that is why Florida Marlins traded him, and SD move him away from second, has no range, fielding is very questionable, he definitely will have to be taken out of the game for defensive purposes in the late innings, also read he has a questionable knee issue that flares up from time to time, but his bat does speak for him, no power but will put the ball in play to all fields, I give it a high “C:’ signing for the Giants.
High C because of all the high fructose corn syrup? I give it a Hawaiian punch.
Luis Arraez is so underrated. Yes, we know he doesn’t run, field, throw, nor hit for power well. But he puts the ball in play a LOT. He is superb at that
A very nice complementary piece for the Giants
He can ruin a leadoff hitter’s stolen base attempt with a foul ball, fail to execute a hit and run, and never take a walk like a champ too.
Luis Arraez is three true outcomes minus the walks and being able to hit home runs.
Your three true outcomes are fat, drunk, and stupid and that’s no way to go through life — D. Wormer
@Theo
You’re probably just doing a bit, but I can’t abide morons who can’t look past Arraez’s high (but falling) batting average to understand he is an average hitter with more downside than upside.
Unfortunately, that means I can’t abide you anymore either.
You compliment his complement! Noice!!!!!
Nice signing can play 2B and also play 1B if they don’t want to rush Ethridge. If they are not in the playoff hunt (which I expect them to be) they can use him as a trade chip. Not a huge giants fan but I kinda like what they’ve with the rotation (they have some youngsters to step up)
But can he sing like Melissa?
206m dollar payroll for that roster that’s a fireable offense
You’re calling the payroll for that roster ridiculous? Yet the dodgers pay an injury prone dude who is a career .273 hitter and averages roughly 25 HR’s a season $60 mil a year (about a quarter of the Giants payroll for 1 player…) get with the times and contracts…
That was genius. They know that other teams around the league are going to overpay for now on. Think Bichette gets 43M?
Gets or deserves? Definitely didn’t deserve that much, I don’t think there’s any 2B in baseball worth $25mil+ per season right now
Yes I am. I had no idea they’d been spending so much just to win 80 games every year, you mention the dodgers but they actually win as expected for how much they spend and they purposely overpaid for Tucker just to keep him off other teams it’s not because they’re stupid big difference
Never said they were stupid for paying, just that he’s not worth 60 mil a year. And everyone complains that teams aren’t spending money to keep up with the dodgers, then a team like the Giants spend some money and you say they’re paying too much… should they return to the Farhan penny pinching ways?
Not spending too much just spending very poorly. 206m should get you in the playoffs every year
Lots of teams at 200 mil+ a year that don’t make playoffs every year. Dbacks, Rangers, Angels, Tigers, Orioles, Royals, just to name a few
And? That’s incompetence
Dani:The Dodgers need to win all 162 games this year to even come close to getting their money’s worth. And they better win every game in the playoffs or it will all be for naught. I wonder how much money per win does every team pay. I’ll bet the Dodgers pay much more per win than most teams. Mets are more likely worst along with the Dodgeferrals.
Nice try, you might’ve had a point if the giants actually got a wild card with their high payrolls
Della:figure it out yourself. Hypothetical. The Dodgers get 105 wins vs. Giants 90 wins. How much including deferrals will those 105 wins cost vs. how much the Giants 90 wins cost. If you choose not to use the Giants example if they don’t make the playoffs is fine. Do the same math with any playoff team. It’s not even close to what the Dodgers wins cost them. And if it wasn’t for the baserunning gaffe in Toronto the Dodgers wouldn’t sniff the trophy. 60mil per year for a decent player is pure stupidity.
I forgot they didn’t have a set player for 2B anymore before this signing.
They could probably trade Schmidt as Koss is just as good at three of the infield positions and can play the corner outfield spots. A trade could loosen up some more money to get a reliable relief pitcher. A resigning of Dominic Smith would a welcome sight as an insurance at first base ( in the event Eldridge needs some more seasoning) and DH and corner outfielder.
Sounds like a bridge contract into next year and they go hard after Nico Hoerner in the offseason. The prices were too steep to trade for Donovan, Abrams, or Hoerner (especially with Hoerner being a rental player)
Love this signing. The Giants desperately needed another MLB-level bat. Depth is so important. Eldridge and his 35% K-rate are completely unproven. Bryce is still only 21 years old, and another full season at AAA for the kid to polish his game might be the smartest move at this point in his development. See how he looks in Scottsdale.
Dream move is the Giants still work on a trade for a legit defensive 2B like Donovan or Hoerner, and Arraez is the full time DH. But it seems like Arraez was promised to start at 2B? Maybe Coach Washington can improve his defense?
Some interesting roster decisions ahead for the Giants. In an ideal world, Schmitt is your utility infielder, so I’m glad that’s the case. Devers was also sneaky good defensively at 1B, and hit way better when he was playing the field, as opposed to just serving as designated hitter. Between Heliot Ramos, Eldridge and Arraez – all three are all best suited to DH. Let’s see if any of that trio can raise their game defensively.
Lots of moving parts going into spring training, which makes it exciting. Heck, if Luis Matos or Jerar Encarnación look fantastic during Cactus League play, Heliot Ramos could be flipped for a lefty starter like Kris Bubic (as rumored). As is, I expect the Giants to use their remaining $11.2M budget under the luxury tax threshold to add a veteran arm or two: Justin Verlander, Lucas Giolito, Jose Quintana, Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer and Tyler Anderson could all be in play, even as bullpen arms.
Now that CF and 2B are presumably addressed for the Giants, the biggest worry heading into 2026 remains the bullpen. Any young arms have a chance to turn into a dominant closer? Trying those aforementioned veteran arms as bullpen pieces could also yield interesting results.
I wish the Royals signed him and just let India leave. I bet the extra 4 mil will be more than worth it next year.
India’s a far better player.
No he isn’t. He was awful last year and hasn’t been half as good as Arraez in his career. 16.4 vs 7.1 WAR. he’s worth the extra 4 mil he’s getting. I really hope India is good next year and proves me wrong but I HIGHLY doubt he will.
I just heard the greatest overreaction you will probably every year on a podcast concerning any player this year.A Giants podcast just stated that this signing makes the Giants a legitimate contender and asks why it is Arraez is not in the same conversation with Ohtani and Judge as far as greatness in hitting. I thought they stopped serving the brown acid in San Francisco or on 1975.
I agree with this guy, Ohtani and Judge over rated with all the strikeouts, especially Ohtani.
It’s because people don’t understand power. It more than homers. The longer it takes for a fielder to get the ball the more likely runners can advance. Soft singles are nice, but 340 ft are even better.
Uh. Wot?
I can personally vouch that they did not. However, some people don’t understand the game beyond standard baseball card metrics. To them, it’s hard to understand how it’s possible for a guy getting 60 “special”: hits and a lot of air conditioning can POSSIBLY be doing more for the team than the guy with 181 hits, especially if they’re Blue Jays (or I guess Mets) fans.
Fanatics are interesting creatures with selective memories and strange priorities. I want my $$$ fantasy teams full of ’em, lol.
Perfect pickup for them. That team is starting to go from top 10 in NL to perhaps an easy playoff team
Future hall of famer, nice signing Giants.
Hilarious! A guy that should be sitting out the 2026 season or playing overseas gets $12M to be a defensive liability in SF. Could not sniff HOF even with a ticket.
BG
“A guy that should be sitting out the 2026 season or playing overseas ”
He’s a fringe starter.
FGDC projects him for 1.4 WAR
This move really doesn’t make baseball sense — Schmitt must be a republican.
Early prediction: The Giants will lead MLB in GIDP.
Average bat (at best) and a lousy glove. San Fran might as well have used Schmitt at second and saved some money.
Did they make him swear an oath that he will work hard on his defense, especially working to increase his range?
Arraez will probably hit a better BA than Brendan Donovan and doesn’t cost the Giants half their minor leagues. Due to the Cardinals asking price, this is a great move by SF.
Same for Hoerner who was going to be a rental if he didn’t agree to an extension. I made a comment earlier that this seems like a bridge contract to next offseason where I hope they go after Hoerner
Yet Donovan can actually play defense, at multiple positions and can hit the ball. Unlike this guy who can hit weak singles, minimal power and a true defensive liability at a position 2B that demands defense. Do not forget already have a dead glove in Devers who is destined to be a DH, his true position.
What’s the difference between a soft single and a hard hit single? A single is a single, I could care less how hard the ball was hot
Soft singles never become doubles or more. And you need three singles in the same inning for any of them to matter, especially if Arraez is running. He scores a remarkably low number of runs, and never walks. He usually just makes quick outs, often two of them. Pitcher’s best friend.
Pitcher’s nightmare with bases loaded, especially with Lee on 1st.
Also, pitcher’s dream come true with one out and men on first and second. Or with him on first.
Imagine the relief when you know he can’t hardly score from first on a double, or go first to third on a single.
DTS
“he can’t hardly score from first on a double, or go first to third on a single.”
Last year Arraez took the extra base on 43% of hits.
baseball-reference.com/players/a/arraelu01-bat.sht…
The league average was 42%
baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2025-baserun…
You may be exaggerating his inability to run the bases just a little bit.
Luis Arraez’ one true MLB-level skill is his eye-hand co-ordination.
I think Giants’ fans will be happy they got his bat but, especially if the work defensively doesn’t produce results, will find he isn’t the kind of player overall that makes a really good team better.
If eye-hand coordination is his one trick that’s one heck of a pony. Card tricks and balloon animals galore. Beware your money clip at Frisco clubhouse birthday parties, graduations, bachelorette parties and magic shows. Make me a bicycle, clown!!
Huge overpay for a guy that cant catch, run or hit for power.
But he knows how to properly wield apostrophe which you apparently can not.
DDT
“But he knows how to properly wield apostrophe”
You should see what he can do with an article
Nice catch.
Everyone wants to plug him in as at the top of the lineup. I wonder if as an 8 or 9 would be better. The OS thought was high ops to get on base. Now it’s leaning more towards putting best hitters up top.
I think he’d make a perfect No. 9 hitter.
Think of all the speed at the top of the lineup playing station to station.
Commenters click his name and review his fielding numbers. Notice that numbers in boldface represent league leading stats. 2 numbers in boldface are for fielding percentage as in he lead ALL first basemen in fielding percentage in 2025 and ALL second basemen in fielding percentage in 2023. ALL as in the ENTIRE LEAGUE. Ron Washington might not have to do much. I realize they’re just numbers and all of the “experts” that comment negatively likely know more than the Giants front office which is comprised of 3 future hofers, but ….
The issue with your highlighting fielding percentage is that just says he didn’t fumble away the balls he got to.
It says nothing about how many more chances even average range would have produced
2023 was the last year he was essentially a full time second baseman. His Total Zone numbers and DRS numbers were very good and better than Schmitts and, again, he led baseball with a .993 fielding percentage and had 4 errors. Kodion, Im aware of the metric that measures “getting to difficult balls”. Total Zone and DRS address those metrics and as i said inprevious post those numbers were very good. And COINCIDENTALLY his fielding percentage led baseball. Did I quantify my previous post well enough?
You can say that again.
2023 was the last year he was essentially a full time second baseman. His Total Zone numbers and DRS numbers were very good and better than Schmitts and, again, he led baseball with a .993 fielding percentage and had 4 errors. Kodion, Im aware of the metric that measures “getting to difficult balls”. Total Zone and DRS address those metrics and as i said above those numbers were very good. And COINCIDENTALLY his fielding percentage led baseball. Did I quantify my previous post well enough?
Yay. Now clap and bark like a trained seal. Roll over too and you get fish.
And oh I forgot to add that he had FIVE errors total in 2023 and 2025 at 2nd and 1st
Claude
“he had FIVE errors total in 2023 and 2025 at 2nd and 1st”
I had 0
Maybe just looking at number of errors is flawed.
BREAKING NEWS!! JuanUribeJazzHands has signed with Giants to play 2nd base!! Congrats JUJ!
claude
You’re so close to getting it
You had three errors in this post alone but who’s counting.
Is “divin” a word?
JUJH:You had no errors to go with no chances. Not very good at all.
J-Willie right before the old folks home !!! Good luck Giants!!
I like it. His “bad year” last year he still hit .292. Dude almost never strikes out, putting the ball in play is a underrated skill. Now just sign Framber & the Giants just might be competitive. I wonder where Arraez hits in the line-up. Leadoff or 2nd?
Is Arraez going to catch?
Slow as molasses, terrible defender and a free swinging singles merchant with glacial bat speed.
Only two seasons with a WAR over 2 and it required a .354 batting average for his career high 3.4 WAR season.
A super overrated, one boring trick pony.
Seem bitter. Does Luis owe you moolah? Spurn your romantic overture? One up your performance of the gavotte for the emperor embarrassing you in front of peers and family?
Don’t you have a barrenly attended poetry jam to get to?
Or do you just date yourself from your nacho crumbed lair?
It’s accurate tho. To the letter.
DDT
They and you both appear to suffer from the same malady – internet-itis. Being overly negative for no good reason.
Arraez is fine. A fringe starter. Yes. People overate him because the overate batting average.
Then there’s your tired (and homophobic) comment.
Both he and Devers seem like they’re living the dream, not just parroting media training, when interviewed. I bet they’ll get along famously… … unless they have to compete for the same position, then someone’s got to go, lol.
Arraez fits in SF. They needed a guy like him that’s dependable, rather than Helliot Ramos.
Plan B is he is the DH until Eldridge is ready.
Arraez is unicorn-ish in my book. I’ve seen him play a bunch and he simply hits it where they ain’t.
It’ll be fun watching him bat and if he sucks… you know what they say… There’s no such thing as a bad one year contract.
“Plan B is he” sounds like an adult Dr. Seuss book or something.
Imagine being the active career batting average leader at .317 and 16 war at 28 with 2 silver slugger awards, lead the league in hits twice and batting avg 3 times, 15 more carreer walks than strikeouts after 7 seasons, while never striking out more than 48 times in a full season, playing second base in the mlb albeit poorly, and have the comment section call you a poor baseball player. If Casey Schdmit was actually the better answer then he would have gotten the job done alot cheaper
He is doing an excellent job of getting paid well for his one true skill. And will most likely be good value for it. That doesn’t make him a good baseball player.
Arraez is a unique guy. His contact skills are too good for a bench player but the skill-set elsewhere makes him a liability. He’s got a slow, soft, bat and he is a slow, soft, defender/runner.
If he was even MLB-average at any one of them (including a bit more power in his hitting as one because DH is his NATURAL position), ….
This all true. Still need to score from first base. If there was a player in scoring position however, I would feel pretty confident having the bat in in his hands.
Unless it’s second. That is the problem.
He’s had 30+ doubles the last 4 seasons. Not completely anemic
Don Demeter?
Don mossi
Put him at first base and watch Devers throw another tantrum.
Right side of that infield is pretty rough defensively.
Giants IF may easily lead the majors in errors next season.
Just one side of it. The other side rocks.
The pitching side …who end up with poorer GB stats, higher Runs Allowed and, generally, less confidence in the defense?
You can’t mean hitting because “rocks” suggests power (not much more than a hint in Arraez’ profile). On the other hand, you might value pickleball dinks enough for that to rock ….
If Arraez improves his defense at 2nd and raises his OBP a bit, then great. This will allow Eldridge the chance to work on his strikeouts and defense at AAA, and probably allows Jerar Encarnacion the opportunity to make the opening day roster as a DH. This is Encarnacion’s last chance to stay healthy and hopefully produce.
If Arraez comes up short at 2nd, he slides to DH and Schmitt gets the reps at 2nd. I do believe Arraez playing in such a large ballpark, and motivated for a bigger payday next year, is going to have one of his best offensive seasons yet.
Finally, you got to like that Arraez hit .302 vs the Dodgers last year.
He figured something out, that’s for sure. He was a .185 hitter against the Dodgers before ’25 …when his OPS was under .500 …
I really like this for the Giants. Power! Power! Power! Now you get some contact.
One of the most annoying things about the comment section, apart from a number of nasty, disrespectful and arrogant commenters, is the fact that you get tagged with every single comment that pops up in a thread you participated in., whether it was something you said, or one of the dozens of others weighing in.
I really wish there was a way to just see direct responses without having to sift through all the nonsense.
Yeah. MLBTR would do good to make filters, or like SB Nation, where you directly reply to a comment and you only get alerted on those.
Use the app. No tags.
Ron Washington in a cold sweat right now
that made me laugh out loud
This is why I root for the Giants .
Phenomenal signing, Giants aren’t done! Still some bargains to be had out there…
As a Padres fan, we love Luis….but he is a liability in the field, esp 2B. He was serviceable at 1B bc he didn’t have to cover as much ground, but 2B will be different. Most likely he ends up back at 1B or as the DH half way through the season.
Not in SF he won’t. He would be #3 in line for DH/1B
Then that’s their loss bc he sucks at 2B.
Team has a good amount of power behind him leading off. We had a terrible time finding a legit lead off guy last year. Let’s not forget that a guy who works the pitcher gives the rest of the hitters a preview of today’s menu of pitches.
Defense? We’ve got a pretty good glove in San Diego born Schmidt. He’ll come in late after the runs have scored.
Bt
“Let’s not forget that a guy who works the pitcher gives the rest of the hitters a preview of today’s menu of pitches”
Arraez sees fewer pitches (3.8) per plate appearance than the league average (3.89)
Expect “can of corn to LF” a lot
That is a good stat but that’s league average, what about that stat for the Giants? Bet it’s way less than his 3.8.
If Arraez was a guy who works the pitcher, he’d have a lot more BBs. Last season the league average BB% was 8.5% and Arraez had only a 5%.
Baytown, For their careers:
Bailey: 3.93
Adames: 4.02
Chapman: 4.19
Ramos: 3.85
Lee: 3.76
Devers: 3.86.
Schmitt: 3.62
Matos: 3.6o
Gilbert: 3.78
Only Lee, Schmitt, Matos, and Gilbert see fewer pitches per PA, and those guys haven’t exactly been the heart of the order.
But look at last season when Arraez saw only 3.64 pitches per PA.
Bailey: 3.81
Adames: 4.07
Chapman: 4.11
Ramos: 3.81
Lee: 3.80
Devers: 4.23
Schmitt: 3.82
Matos: 3.73
Gilbert: 3.78
Last season every Giants’ player saw more pitches per PA than Arraez. And over the last 3 seasons he’s averaged 3.50, 3.60 and 3.64. So I guess you’d lose that bet.
JM
The “eye test”
Good info, only thing I can say is, even with those numbers, they sure end up striking out a lot.
Ron Washington will whip him into shape.
Damn, solid move by the Giants
Just about the most meh signing, no long term commitment, average player, screams Giants sticking to mediocrity to me. If he can come back to career averages it should help the offense, but if he’s where he’s been the last 2 years then it will be a wasted development opportunity.
Don’t have a problem with it, just think the $ could have been spent wiser. Would have preferred to give Schmitt the opportunity if he won it out of ST. Houser signing was much worse than this.
As a Padre fan, I really liked Arraez. He seemed like he was a good teammate and as for his hitting… when you needed a single, there was a 30% chance you would get a single. When you needed a walk…there was a 30% you would get a single. When you needed a double…you get the idea.
Seems you all have become so enamored with dumb statistics like OPS and war, lol.
It isn’t all sabermetrics just because someone told you to obery their dictates.
Let me explain. He strikes out 6.7% of the time, he makes the pitcher work, the team gets into the oppnents bullpen more often in a series, HE GETS ON BASE!!
The team is full of 30% strikeout hitters.
Let’s quote Earl Weaver’s formula, 3 RUN HR’S.
You can’t hit 3 run HR’s if no one’s on base. He’s WAY above Schmidt by miles.
Payne:Saying the Giants are dumb shows you’re also dumb.
Baytown: I said the same thing about fouling pitches off and driving the pitchers pitch counts up. He did it to the Giants last year. He was a menace to other teams also. Now we get the menace to sign to play for us. I watched him on defense last year and I didn’t see the glaring weakness. He fielded and looked very passable. And to everyone who trashes Devers on defense. You don’t watch him day in and day out. He looked pretty damn good last year and he was playing a new position. He’ll be even better in 2026. I have no concerns on defense at 1B by Devers at all.
Bingo. Obviously Buster et al felt the team needed a bat more than their concerns for good D. Well, I don’t need to repeat myself, I’m thrilled.
He should do better if his manager doesn’t insist on sending him to the plate to bunt.
Comment solely to be #420
The batting average warriors are surprisingly good at finding MLBTR comment sections. This is a mediocre player who plays bad defense, can’t run and never walks. Dude can’t put a barrel on a ball to save his life.. but sure he gets a stick on it.
bottom 6% of MLB exit velo
bottom 1% of MLB xwobacon
bottom 1% of MLB hard hit
bottom 10% of MLB walks
-9 OAA on defense (at 1b lol)
Don’t let the facts get in the way though.. you’ll see for yourself when you have to see it in person every night.
Great post, totally wrong. Baseball reference clutch stats and you can really see what an underrated hitter he is. If dbacks had traded ketel, he would of been a must have.
What a sad replacement for Marte that would’ve been. This dude is not a 2B anymore. He can’t even play 1B.
There’s no replacement for ketel. But if they would of pulled hunter etc .
Stat nerds will tell you batting average and RBIs are useless stats.
You have to hot the baseball and drive in runs. Seems like 2 most underrated stats in baseball
RT
People who just look at stats and don’t watch games will overate batting average and RBI
They don’t realize that doubles, triples and home runs drive in more runs than singles. They also don’t realize that doubles and triples get the batter into scoring position to be driven in by their teammates.
If they knew that, they would use wOBA which says 1b<2b<3b<HR instead of batting average which says that 1b=2b=3b=HR. How absurd. Only someone who doesn't watch games could think that.
Since they don't watch games they also don't understand that walks matter. They've never seen a batter draw a walk to move a runner into scoring position. Or draw a walk to get on base for a teammate to drive in.
If they did watch baseball, they'd use wOBA which doesn't ignore walks like batting average does.
People who overate RBI don't watch baseball, because if they did they would see that the batter who singles to move a runner from 1st to 3rd did more work in scoring a run than the batter that hits a sac fly to drive them in. RBI totally ignores that contribution, but people who don't watch baseball think RBI measures "run production"
Watch a game!
You gave me nothing to devalue Bat Avg and Rbi’s. You brought up a fancy stat name in woba. Have you not heard of stat called Obp or Slg? See I can look at those stats as someone who not only watches but played the game. I can use my brain to analyze the value of an rbi. You want to take away a players value in his rbi because he didn’t put the player on third, yet still did his job of not striking out and making hard enough contact as instructed by the team to drive in the run. My comment didnt imply i only use batting avg. Its simple math. More hits you get in the game the better. Just bc Pete rose has the hits record in singles doesn’t take away he had those hits. Like what. Ohtani had over 100 rbi batting leadoff. He did so because he crushed the ball. Or had a good woba as you would say. I get a guy like ruben sierra deove in 100 rbis simply batting 4th with a low average, obp and slug. Teams were good at manufacturing runs for him to sac them in. Then you have players like Tommy herr who drove in a 100 rbis with 8 HR and Ozzie Smith who drove in over 70 rbis batting 9th with 0 HR. Those cardnials hustle those runs which your woba wont account for. Baseball is more simple than you want to believe. Its played by children. Go play the game jizzhands
RT
“More hits you get in the game the better”
Take a math class. Batting average doesn’t tell you how many hits a player gets.
Here’s two players from last year
P1: 654 PA. .265 batting batting average
P2: 654 PA. .265 batting average
One had 105 hits. One had 115. Which was which?
“More hits you get in the game the better”
Are you sure?
Would you rather have 10 singles or 5 home runs in a game?
Watch a game.
“Ohtani had over 100 rbi batting leadoff. He did so because he crushed the ball. ”
Ohtani 102 RBI
Pasquatino 113 RBI
Do you think Pasquatino crushed the ball more than Ohtani?
RBI doesn’t tell you how well a hitter hit.
“not heard of stat called Obp or Slg”
Yes. wOBA is better. Again, OBA treats a walk and a home run the same. Watch a game and you’ll see that that’s not true. SLG thinks walks don’t exist. Watch a game and you’ll see that walks do exist and help teams to score runs.
Please don’t talk about OPS. You were taught, but maybe didn’t learn, in middle school why you can’t just add those two numbers together and get a number that means anything.
But let me guess, you don’t watch baseball ABD you can’t understand middle school math.
“Those cardnials hustle those runs which your woba wont account for.”
Because runs are about more than the batter that drove them in. Watch a game.
You seem a angry. And argumentative.
“jizzhands”
And immature
RT,
I think it’s incorrect that stat nerds think BA and RBI are useless. People that understand stats know that both have some value, but have realized that neither tells the full story, are overrated stats, and have to be used in conjunction with everything else a player does.
Years ago people thought a guy with a .275 BA was more valuable than a .250 hitter. Now baseball people realize that if the .275 hitter has a .310 OBP, 10 HRs, and a 20% SO rate, and the .250 guy has a .350 OBP, with 20 HRs, and an 10% SO rate, the .250 guy is far more valuable to the team.
As to RBI, sure it means a guy puts the ball into play when needed. But it also has a lot to do with how good the guys hitting in front of him are at getting on base. And depends hugely on where a guy hits in the order. Those are 2 major factors that the batter has no control over, but has a big impact on the number of RBI.
I agree.Never said I only will look at a batters avg and rbi to determine their value. Also this is a different game that’s played today than in the past. Pitchers threw 300 – 500 innings without striking out 100. Now they will strike out 200 in less in 200 innings pitched. OBP was waaaay under valued. I watched money ball. I get Scott hatteberg
: can’t reply to your other comment because it’s “unapproved”? :
RT
“Batting Average means more hits per ab.”
It doesn’t mean more hits, though.
Why would anyone care who gets more hits when they don’t walk or get hit by a pitch or sacrifice?
The only reason people care about batting average is because that’s what they learned. It holds no actual value.
Hits per plate appearance. That might be useful. It tells you who got more hits and who got fewer hits. Making it about as useful as BB% or K%. But no one cares about K/AB. No one should care about H/AB either.
“How hard is that? Lame take. Instead of woba all you need to do is understand how OBP. works. ”
I understand how OBP works. It tells you nothing about how much power a player hits for. And SLG tells you nothing about how much a player gets on base. And batting tells you basically nothing. So why would anyone look at those 3 stats and try to meld them together to figure out how well a player hit instead of just looking at wOBA which tells you how well the player hit? Then you can look at OBP and ISO to see the difference between how Juan Soto and Kyle Schearber put up nearly identical wOBAs.
And RBI tells you basically nothing about how well a player hit as Ohtani, Sierra and Pasquatino show.
“Yes a hit is better than no hit!”
Did anyone say otherwise?
But 5 HR is better than 9 singles. But it’s probably going to be a lower batting average. Which shows you how useful batting average is. But a higher WOBA. Which tells you how useful WOBA is.
MLBTR is soft. Why is there any comments being removed. Do better @MLBTR
You devalued bat avg and rbi. Brought up woba. So I brought up slg and obp. Just because one doesn’t stick to one stat like you might doesn’t mean you can pick and choose what holds value. Thanks for the debate.
How many seasons of 100 runs or rbis does he have?
$12m for a 1 WAR player? Damn. That’s a lot of money for a below average player (-2.0 WAA in the last 2 seasons).
Should have been a 2 year deal.
Clearly Arraez was not the Giants first choice at second but in order to acquire a Donovan or Hoerner or Abrams – the prospect capital they would’ve had to give up was daunting.
This way they give up no prospects. If it doesn’t work out they move on.
I don’t really see too much of a downside.
Besides, if Eldridge starts the season in Sacramento, you have the option of DHing Arraez and playing Devers at first. Devers will field that position just fine. I see a Vladdy type of transition there.
There shouldn’t be a comma before “either.”
Opponents will deploy very left-handed lineups.
Matos owes you dinner Luis.