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One of the biggest stories that’s flown under the radar in the 2026 MLB season is Luis Arraez’s resurgence for the San Francisco Giants.
Although Arraez’s impact has always been a bit overlooked in today’s MLB given so much of his value comes what his contact skills (and not much else), he’s forced the issue this season with another fantastic showing at the dish (.323/.362/.450 slashline) combined with an elite defensive season at second base (10 Outs Above Average).
That strong season couldn’t be happening at a better time for Arraez given he’s an impending free agent and the Giants are in the midst of a disastrous season that could lead to a fire sale at the deadline.
And we got our first examples of some of that deadline posturing over the weekend when the Mercury News’ Justice delos Santos reported there haven’t been any formal extension talks between the Giants and Arraez despite Arraez going on the record in saying that he’d be open to staying with San Francisco long term.
All of that makes Arraez seem like a lock to be traded, which should interest a Guardians that has a clear need for a player like Arraez.
Luis Arraez could be the missing piece in the Guardians’ lineup
The obvious fly in the ointment here is Arraez’s defensive position. He told delos Santos that he only wants to play second base for the rest of the season, but he doesn’t have a no-trade clause, so he may not get a choice.
That said, his public decree of only wanting to play second could scare away some teams looking to acquire him to play first, which is the camp the Guardians would be in.
While Travis Bazzana is nowhere near the kind of defender that Arraez is (imagine hearing that at the beginning of the season), the Guardians clearly want to give him everyday at-bats and he doesn’t have a secondary position, whereas Arraez has recorded 263 appearances at first base and 80 games at third.
The biggest reason Arraez has turned into such a good defender has been the presence of Ron Washington, who joined the Giants’ coaching staff as an infield coach and is one of the best defensive coaches in baseball.
While Arraez’s defensive numbers may take a bit of a dip when he leaves San Francisco, most of the things he’s learned should stick.
But the Guardians shouldn’t be too concerned about that considering he’d likely bounce between first and second. Instead of needing to give more at-bats to Rhys Hoskins, the Guardians could add Arraez in his spot and swap him between second base, first base and designated hitter.
Arraez could DH on the days where Kyle Manzardo and Travis Bazzana are in the field and then play at either of those positions when Bazzana or Manzardo get a day off.
Adding Arraez to the Guardians’ lineup would also give Cleveland one of the peskiest top of the orders in baseball with him, Steven Kwan and José Ramírez.
Arraez and Kwan both rank in the 100th percentile in whiff rate and squared-up rate, so neither of them are going to get cheated. It wouldn’t be a surprise if an opposing starting pitcher needed 20+ pitches to get through the top of Cleveland’s lineup with those two hitting back-to-back.
Even though Arraez wouldn’t be an immediate fix to the Guardians’ lack of power (he has just four home runs), he’d help Cleveland’s lineup reach new heights.
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This article was originally published on awaybackgone.com as Latest Luis Arraez rumor puts him squarely in Guardians' wheelhouse.
