Giants' Luis Arraez Expected to Be Traded at Deadline; Should Padres Pursue Reunion?

Over the offseason, the San Diego Padres lost a few key players from the 2025 roster. One of these guys was veteran infielder Luis Arraez, who had been with the team since midway through the 2024 season.

Arraez signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the San Francisco Giants after a long free agency period, and it didn't seem like the Padres wanted to pay a lot to get him back. There were concerns with Arraez's defense on the Padres, which led to the team letting him go.

Of course, Arraez's bat has carried over to the Giants, with the infielder hitting .316 with 11 runs batted in. The veteran has posted an OPS of .738, and even without a ton of power, Arraez has been productive again.

However, more surprisingly, Arraez has turned into one of the best defenders in MLB with the Giants.

With the Giants likely to be sellers this season, it seems that Arraez could be on the move at the upcoming trade deadline this summer. In fact, MLB insider Robert Murray of FanSided recently reported that Arraez is likely to be on the move — and the Padres could be an interesting landing spot for the veteran this season.

Would Luis Arraez Make Sense For Padres?

Due to the familiarity with Arraez, bringing him back could make some sense for the Padres. Not only would Arraez help the offense, but his defense has been much better this season than what he did in San Diego.

So far with the Giants, Arraez has been very good defensively, in one of the bigger surprises of the season. Currently, Arraez has a plus-9 Outs Above Average, which ranks in the 99th percentile of MLB.

With his improved defense and a bat that has carried over, Arraez could make sense to help provide a boost to this Padres offense. San Diego's offense has been extremely inconsistent from game to game, and even with the team tweaking things, nothing has worked consistently well.

Maybe getting a guy who is great at getting hits and getting on base could help spark something in this group. When Arraez first arrived in San Diego, the offense started to play much better, and a return to the Padres could be a big win for both sides.

Arraez could be a nice move for San Diego to consider making if the Giants were to make him available. If anything, he could give this team more depth — and since they already know each other well, there wouldn't need to be a transition period.

Why Luis Arraez Wouldn't Make Sense

On the flip side, the Padres have tons of depth on the position player side of things, and are already dealing with a lack of slug this season.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is surprisingly yet to hit a home run this season, but he's far from the only Padre struggling with the long ball.

The Padres as a team have only hit 36 home runs this season, which is tied for 20th in MLB. It would make much more sense to pursue a power bat at the trade deadline than add Arraez, who is also yet to hit a home run this season.

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