The Giants and the infielder Luis Arraez they are on a one-year contract agreement, according to ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. Arraez will earn $12MM and is expected to play second base, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The agreement is still pending. Arraez is a client of MVP Sports Group.
Arraez entered the offseason looking for a multi-year contract and was reportedly prioritizing teams to play with him in the second division. Now he’s getting his wish, as the Giants are going to put him on the keystone to round out their field. Arraez passed up multi-year offers from other teams to play second base, according to multiple reports, including one from Bob Nightengale of USA Today. We at MLBTR rated Arraez on a two-year, $24MM contract at the start of the season. The deal is similar 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, about $30MM more than last year’s salary. Their 2026 CBT salary now stands at $232.7MM, which leaves about $11.3MM for future additions before the Giants hit the initial luxury tax limit. Arraez represents the second group of eight this week, after signing Harrison Bader to a two-year, $20.5MM deal on Monday.
Arraez will add a contact-oriented bat to the heavyweight infield. Matt Chapman again Willy Adams combined for 51 home runs last season. Rafael Devers added 20 homers in his 90 games with the team. High hopes Bryce Eldridge waiting in the wings to add another big bat to the mix. Each of those hitters comes with different levels of strikeout anxiety, and Arraez should help balance some of the swings and misses in the middle of the lineup.
Arraez, 28, is coming off a rough season thanks to his high batting averages. He hit .292 in his one full season in San Diego. That mark still ranks in the top five in the National League, but it was the lowest of his seven-year career. A .289 BABIP may be to blame for the regression, though Arraez’s batted ball profile has also regressed.
Arraez never really hits the ball hard, instead relying on ridiculously low swings and an all-field approach to save hits. He reached a new low in hit rate in 2025, finishing deadliest among professional hitters at 16.7%. His previous career low was a 22.7% shooting percentage as a rookie with Minnesota. He’s still fielding the ball at one of the highest rates in the league (42.6%), but that doesn’t mean much when you have a very slow strikeout rate. Arraez’s batting velocity was nearly 9 mph below league average last season.
Defense balance is a non-solvable issue. Arraez had poor marks in the field in 2023 and 2024, with a combined -26 Outs Above Average across the two seasons. He served as Miami’s second baseman in 2023, but moved to first base after dealing with the Padres in May 2024. Most of Arraez’s defensive reps came at first this past season. He posted a -9 OAA, though Defensive Runs Saved had him at +3. Arraez will now play against Devers, who has also received poor grades over the past few seasons. Scouts aren’t thrilled with Eldridge’s defensive ability, either.
As several Cardinals reporters have pointed out, including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat , the addition of Arraez could derail the Giants Brendan Donovan trade discussion. The same goes Nico Hoerner At Mantshontsho. San Francisco has been known to work hard to get second base upgrades and has been involved in trade talks for both players.
The club’s second basemen finished 26th in OPS in 2025. Tyler Fitzgerald, Casey Schmittagain Christian Koss managed most of the at-bats instead. Schmitt is the only prospect to play with the big league team next season, assuming he recovers from offseason wrist surgery. Given his versatile defense and limited production at the plate, he is best suited for a relief role. Schmitt may earn a second base start over Arraez against lefties, though his career .674 OPS vs. southpaws nearly matched Arraez’s .673 mark.
Images courtesy of David Frerker and William Liang, Imagn Images
