Luis Arraez became everything the Giants hoped he would be — and now they may have to trade him

Amid a season fraught with disappointments and missed opportunities, Luis Arraez's success at second base has been one of the few bright spots on this 2026 SF Giants squad. But the feeling about his acquisition hasn't always been positive within the fanbase. When the deal was announced back in February, the overall reaction to the move was rather pessimistic, and there were valid reasons at the time.

The Giants bet on a player whom the numbers largely pegged as a bad defender throughout his seven-season career. The fact that an above-average defender like Casey Schmitt was waiting for an everyday chance in the infield made the decision even harder to understand. A few months later, Arraez is now a four-time All-Star and has proved everyone wrong, including me. He has become the player the Giants dreamed he would develop into, and despite everything he's achieved and overcome, all the signs point to him leaving the Bay before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

When Arraez hit free agency last season, multiple teams offered him multi-year contracts to play at first base or serve as the designated hitter. But Arraez wanted to play at second base, his preferred position, and San Francisco was the only team willing to give him a shot there. Now that things have worked out for him, the 29-year-old is simply grateful for the opportunity the organization gave him and doesn't rule out signing an extension.

"Yes, why not?" Arraez said to the San Francisco Standard when asked whether an extension is possible. "Especially because this organization gave me a big opportunity to improve my defense. I would love to come back here. I'm open to listen to whatever they want to say to me."

Arraez's defensive work has paid off for Giants

In hindsight, the doubts and concerns regarding his defense were legitimate. From 2019 through 2025, Arraez posted a combined -37 Outs Above Average when playing second base. While Giants' legendary infield coach Ron Washington played a key role in Arraez reinventing his defense, it was another coach who laid the foundation.

Following a disappointing 2025 campaign with the San Diego Padres, both at the plate (by his standards) and with the glove, Arraez spent the entire offseason working on his defense with Rainer Olmedo, a Venezuelan defensive coach and former major-league player. Arraez gives Olmedo a lot of credit for his improved defense.

"90% of the success is from Olmedo," Arraez said in an interview with Sports Vzla.

The groundwork laid by Olmedo helped Arraez feel the progress from working with Washington after just a few days of training together. The two would meet every morning at 7:30 a.m. during spring training to sharpen his footwork and glove work technique. Ever since the season started, they have continued to do defensive drills every day, hours before games.

The results of all that hard work? Arraez's +10 Outs Above Average at second base this season is tied for the sixth-highest mark among all players and trails only JJ Wetherholt's +16 mark among second basemen. None of that turnaround would have been possible without Arraez's relentless drive and exemplary work ethic.

"Luis is probably one of the hardest workers I have been around," Webb said to MLB.com's Maria Guardado. “I’ve been around a lot of them, but I think just his willingness to learn, to try to get better. I think it started day one in Spring Training, going out there every day with Wash. When you see him every day out here doing the drills that they do. The work ethic was always there. I think just getting around Wash and really just putting his nose into it has been really fun to watch."

Not only has Arraez become a legitimate Gold Glove candidate, but he's also put together one of the best offensive seasons of his career after batting under .300 in 2025 for just the third time in his career.

In his first season in orange and black, Arraez is chasing his fourth batting title. His .330 batting average trails only Otto Lopez's .334 mark. His 119 hits and seven triples also rank second, with Corbin Carroll leading the latter category with 10. In his new home, Oracle Park, Arraez has batted .340, and though he's yet to send the ball over the fence there, he's tripled five times.

His aversion to strikeouts also accompanied him to San Francisco. His 4% strikeout rate so far is the lowest in the majors by a significant margin — Nico Hoerner ranks second at 7.9%. He's also been the most active Giant on the basepaths, stealing a team-high eight bases without being caught yet. Arraez also recently surpassed J.T. Snow for the fourth-longest season-opening streak without consecutive hitless games in Giants history since 1900. He currently sits at 91 games; the franchise record is 124 games, set by Bill Terry in 1929.

Arraez has now proved he can play defense at second base—and at a very high level. He bet on himself and hit the jackpot. Just as he did last offseason, he expressed his desire to remain at second base. If a trade were to happen, it would be to a team willing to play him there. And my gut tells me there will be more suitors than there were last time.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who lead the American League with a 56-38 record, have been linked to Arraez. They would use him at second base, so a trade is plausible, and the Giants should definitely do it if they can net an attractive package in return. Plus, a trade would kind of make sense based on how the roster is currently constructed and, more specifically, given how great Casey Schmitt has been this season.

The front office probably didn't expect Schmitt to be this productive on both ends. They went after Arraez because they didn't think Schmitt could be an everyday player yet and believed he would need a couple more years to develop. But the unofficial first half of the season was enough to show that Schmitt deserves a fixed spot in the lineup, starting as soon as this year.

The outfield probably isn't the most appropriate position for him, as he learned it on the fly this season; third base will be occupied by Matt Chapman for the foreseeable future, and the DH spot is out of the equation for seemingly forever. Second base, then, seems to be the best fit for him.

Schmitt, who's tied with Rafael Devers for the most homers on the team with 19 and ranks second in RBI with 50, is under team control for three additional seasons after 2026, which means the Giants can retain him through 2029 without negotiating a long-term extension.

Arraez placed a risky bet on himself by rejecting multiple multi-year offers and signing a one-year deal with the Giants. Now, the time has come for him to reap the benefits of that bold move. Whether it be in San Francisco or elsewhere, Arraez has played his way into an everyday job at second base.

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