There's one move SF Giants need to make to ensure Luis Arraez stays beyond 2026

The SF Giants will at least have one position player representing the team in the All-Star Game. It was announced on Saturday that second baseman Luis Arraez will be an All-Star and is a reserve for the National League team.

While that’s great news, many also acknowledge the reality that there’s a pretty good chance Arraez will be traded before the August 3 trade deadline.

He’s set to be a free agent and teams well below .500 usually sell off pending free agents to contenders, but Arraez has been the best player on the team this year. He’s had a typical Luis Arraez year on offense and has transformed into a great defender at second base.

It’s only natural for some fans to wonder, “Why would they trade their best player?”

How can the Giants keep Arraez?

It’s a fair question and the Giants may be asking themselves the same thing. Yes, he’s a pending free agent but Arraez has seemed to really like his time in San Francisco so far. Would it be entirely out of the realm of possibility for the Giants to extend him? 

It wouldn’t be impossible, but the Giants have to trade one of their infielders in order to make it work. Things are already crowded as it is with Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge splitting time at first base and the DH spot, Willy Adames at shortstop, and Matt Chapman at third base.

Casey Schmitt has played well enough this year that the Giants have to clear a spot for him. For most of the year it’s seemed like a natural move to trade Arraez and move Schmitt to second base. But there’s a way they could keep both Arraez and Schmitt.

They would likely have to trade Chapman in order to make that work. Of the big contracts the Giants have, Chapman’s may be the easiest to make since he’s still valuable as a defender and is not under contract as long as Adames or Devers.

Schmitt is showing everyone what life would look like with him as the everyday third baseman and it’s not too shabby. He’s making web gems pretty much every day and is having a breakout year offensively.

If the Giants trade Chapman then they don’t need to trade Arraez and then they can spend the rest of this season working on an extension for him. They shouldn’t go crazy, but if they can sign him to a three-year, $45-50 million deal that would be great value since it’s fair to think his contact skills will not deteriorate the same way the power-first approach of Chapman, Adames, and Devers has.

It may not be the likeliest scenario, but Arraez has endeared himself to fans this year and he is incredibly fun to watch. If the Giants want to keep him around, trading Chapman is the one move that makes sense to ensure there's enough room for both Arraez and Schmitt.

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