SF Giants Signing of Luis Arraez Provides More Context to Latest A's Move

Luis Arraez finally has a home, which means we can dig further into Jacob Wilson's extension

Sep 24, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Luis Arraez (4) hits a single during the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have added free agent Luis Arraez to be the club's second baseman for the 2026 campaign. This will serve as a one-year, $12 million deal that Arraez is hoping will springboard him to a longer and more valuable contract next winter.

It was also reported that the new Giants second baseman was weighing multi-year deals, but wanted to play second base again, which is an opportunity that San Francisco presented.

So how does this add context to anything the A's are doing? Well, as we discussed here just a couple of days ago, the fact that Arraez was still sitting on the free agent market could have been a decent-sized reason as to why Jacob Wilson agreed to his extension with the A's earlier this week.

The two players are compared to one another fairly often, with Arraez being Wilson's most common comp. It's easy to see why, too, as Wilson struck out just 7.5% of the time, ranking him in the 100th percentile across MLB, while Arraez was also in the 100th percentile, striking out just 3.1% of the time.

So now that we know what Arraez is making in 2026, how does that re-shape the contract extension that Wilson just agreed to? Is this more of a team-friendly deal now? Is Wilson getting the better of the green and gold? Let's look at the numbers.

Is Wilson's extension still a good deal for both sides?

Aug 13, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) watches from the dugout during the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Before we compare the contracts side by side, let's take a closer look at each player's profile both with the bat and the glove. First, a quick look at how their defense graded out last season at their most frequent position. For Wilson, that would be shortstop, and for Arraez, first base.

	DRS	OAA	FRV
Wilson	-10	-2	-2
Arraez	3	-6	-4

When it comes to playing second base, where Arraez will be stationed in 2026, the last time he racked up 1000+ innings, he accumulated a +4 DRS, but then had horrible numbers in OAA and FRV, at -11 and -8. His glove certainly isn't his calling card. The fact that Wilson graded out as nearly league average at a tougher position in two of the three metrics is a point in his favor.

Now let's take a look at their offensive numbers from last season.

	BA	OBP	wRC+	fWAR	K%	Whiff%	Bat Speed
Wilson	.311	.355	121	3.5	7.5%	9.6%	63.9 (1)
Arraez	.292	.327	104	0.9	3.1	5.3	62.6 (1)

First off, there are some caveats we should make clear. We are comparing Wilson's age 23 season with Arraez's age-28 campaign, which comes with its own inherent flaws. That said, these numbers do show how similar the two are both statistically and by the advanced data. The bat speed numbers at the end particularly stick out, as they both rank in the first percentile.

The biggest difference here is that Wilson's 3.5 fWAR total in his rookie campaign is already higher than any season Arraez has put together. In 2023 with the Miami Marlins, Arraez had a 3.4 WAR season, which is his best to date, while he has put up 12 WAR across his seven-year career.

Wilson's 13 home runs in 2025 also top any season that Arraez has put together in the home run department. His best season there was also in 2023 when he hit 10 with the Marlins. That is also the only year in which he cracked double digits.

So how does this all look with financial compensation?

Comparing the numbers

Arraez ended up with four years of arbitration, which certainly helped him earn a little more the further he got into the process, and before he hit free agency he'd made $32.825 million through the arbitration process. We also know that he'll be making $12 million with the Giants in his age 29 season, bringing him up to nearly $45 million entering his 30's.

The way that Wilson's seven-year, $70 million extension works is that he'll be with the A's through the 2032 campaign, which will be his age-30 campaign, and he'll have a club option year for 2033 as well. The amount of that option year has not been reported yet.

So even if Arraez goes completely off this coming season with the Giants, it's unlikely that he's going to be earning somewhere in the vicinity of $25 million per year, which is what he would need to pull him back to even with Wilson at that point in their careers.

The biggest pluses for Wilson in his game right now over Arraez is that he plays a premium position fairly well, and that he has a little more pop in his bat. It also doesn't hurt that he's already off to a better start to his career numbers-wise, despite not holding a single batting title (yet).

The one thing to keep an eye on in the coming months will be what happens to the A's infield when top prospect Leo De Vries eventually makes it up to the big leagues. He too plays shortstop, and could be the long-term fit at the position. Does that move Wilson to third, where the A's have a need? Or perhaps second, which could free up Jeff McNeil to move around the diamond?

It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out.

For now, it looks like the A's may have made a slight overpay based solely off of what Arraez had been making and how other front offices viewed him this winter, but Wilson also has the potential to turn that extension into an extremely team-friendly deal in the coming years.