Oct 10, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Joaquin Arias (13) hits a double in the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds in game four of the 2012 NLDS at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

At one time, Joaquín Árias was thought to be a pretty important piece of the Texas Rangers farm system. The promise never grew though and the undrafted now 27 year old was jobless coming into the 2012 Spring, but potentially found a home with the Giants who appeared unsure of their shortstop situation.

Of course, by the end of the season, Brandon Crawford along with Arias proved to be a fantastic tandem.

Arias’ ability to play across the diamond proved to be vastly important for the Giants as the Santo Domingo native played three different positions for the orange and black and did so quite effectively, despite some iffy defensive percentage numbers that were skewed with some questionable errors on difficult plays. While he wont be winning a Gold Glove in the near future, Arias’ defense was fantastic overall – even if he caused Mr. Kuiper to have a momentary heart attack in Matt Cain‘s perfecto (…from deep thhHHHHIRRdddd).

From out of baseball (at least from a Major League standpoint) to a .270 average with solid defense, Arias was a perfect addition to the Giants’ 2012 roster.

The numbers weren’t uberly impressive, but Arias was a true spark plug and played his role wonderfully.

Season Grade: B

While utility man Joaquin Arias and the San Francisco Giants couldn’t agree to terms before the arbitrational deadline, the two sides did finally come to an agreement on a one year, $925,000 dollar contract according to Chris Haft.

The $925K figure was the mid-point between Arias’ requested figure and the Giants offered salary, so it appears both sides budged a bit to get a fair deal done.

Arias’ new deal now leaves Sergio Romo as the only Giant still remaining in arbitration.