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The major league baseball trade deadline is less than two weeks away, and there have been a number of names making the rounds. Which teams will be sellers, which will be buyers? Which players are the most certain to be moving? ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel have revealed their most likely trade candidate, with a 95% likelihood of getting dealt. The San Francisco Giants’ Luis Arrez holds the title as we quickly approach August 3rd.
Arraez has done more to improve himself in the eyes of teams than perhaps anyone… His second-base defense this year is among the best in the league. Teams also understand how valuable putting the ball in play can be in the postseason, and nobody is better at that than Arraez, who is going to lead MLB in (lowest) strikeout rate for the fifth consecutive season. With experience at first base, as well, Arraez’s versatility expands his market, positioning him to join his fifth team in five years.
The Giants signed the three-time batting champion to a one-year, $12 million deal, hoping that he would be a missing piece to the lineup of a contending team. Now, instead, he’ll be a fine trade piece that will land them some prospect capital for the future. Arraez is batting .323 with a .362 on-base pct. and an .812 OPS. He leads all active major leaguers with a .318 lifetime average across his eight major league seasons.
8 Teams Linked as Best Fits for Luis Arraez on trade market
Passan & McDaniel list these eight teams as his best fits on the trade market:
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- New York Yankees
- Cleveland Guardians
- Washington Nationals
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Toronto Blue Jays
Going through the list, the first four teams make a ton of sense, two of them division leaders, and the other two close runners-up at the moment.
For the Yankees, with Ben Rice at DH most nights, Paul Goldschmidt at first and Jazz Chisholm Jr. locked in at second base, Arraez wouldn’t have a set position. But could move in at first, usurping Goldschmidt. The Bronx Bombers have the power in their lineup, but could use Arraez’s on-base skills.
For the Rays, trying to hold off the Yankees in the AL East, current second baseman Richie Palacios is averaging about 100 points below Arraez. He is a well-below-average hitter, AND fielder. Arraez would be a massive improvement, both offensively and defensively.
Are the Dodgers in on Luis Arraez?
With the Dodgers lineup, and Arraez’s ability to make contact and get on base, the opportunities for him to score runs would be endless.
In Cleveland, Arraez would be a boost to the offense with the MLB’s fourth-lowest batting average, and third-lowest runs scored. He could join a batting order with so much potential, however, with Travis Bazzana, Jose Ramirez (soon to be back from injury), Chase DeLauter, Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan. Sure, the Guardians are also dead-last in slugging in the majors, and Arraez wouldn’t address that. But Arraez would be an intriguing addition to this batting order.
The bottom four teams on this list are a bit more questionable. None of them are currently in a playoff spot (with the possible exception of the Pirates, who are in a virtual tie for the last Wild Card spot going into Tuesday’s play). In fact, the Blue Jays and D-Backs are likely sellers at this point. The Nationals are hoping to make a playoff push, only one game out, but finding more offense is the least of their troubles. They need to fix their bullpen (a 5.12 ERA is third-worst among major league ‘pens), and/or help out the rotation. To spend what little prospect capital they’d be willing to give up at this deadline, it might not make sense to do it on adding to what is already the top offense in the majors.
Any way you look at it, however, Arraez is going to be on the move somewhere.
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