Padres Let Luis Arraez Walk to Giants

The Padres have lost contact specialist Luis Arraez to division rival San Francisco Giants. The contract is reportedly a one-year prove-it deal, as Arraez looks to bounce back from a poor 2025 campaign.

Not only does the loss hurt an already questionable lineup outlook for the Padres in 2026, it also strengthens a division rival hoping to steal the Padres’ postseason spot.

For most of the offseason, the Padres have been constrained by a payroll capped at last year’s number. With this deal lasting just one year and likely carrying a low salary, this was a choice made by general manager A.J. Preller, not something he was forced into.

The Padres’ decision not to pursue Arraez stemmed from his old-fashioned game, which simply does not fit the modern outlook of the 2026 roster. The team felt it was a better use of money to lock in Korean utility man Sung-Mon Song for four years rather than entertain a return of Arraez.

In 2025, he produced a .292/.327/.392 slash line with eight home runs and a 104 wRC+. He did maintain his otherworldly ability to avoid strikeouts, finishing the season with a career-low 3.1% strikeout rate.

Contact dominance has always been Arraez’s bread and butter, and it will be sorely missed. He won three consecutive batting titles from 2022-24, including one with the Padres in the latter season. He also led the league in hits in 2024 and 2025 and represented the city in the 2024 All-Star Game.

Despite his strong history of production at the plate, Arraez did nothing to offset his batting average falloff in 2025, forcing Preller to look elsewhere this offseason. Outside of his bat-to-ball skills, Arraez owns just a 5% walk rate (bottom 10th percentile) and a 16.7% hard-hit rate (bottom 1st percentile).

Along with poor power and on-base skills, Arraez is a major negative defensively. He was essentially forced into a DH role last season after constant struggles at second and first base. According to FanGraphs, he graded at minus-16.6 outs above average defensively - actually an improvement over his minus-18.1 mark from 2024.

Ultimately, there was no place in the lineup for a player with zero power, terrible defense and limited on-base ability, even if he is a generational contact hitter.

In San Francisco, Arraez will have the opportunity to play second base every day and potentially recoup some value. If he can prove himself as a competent middle infielder and return his batting average to over .300, perhaps a return to San Diego could be in the cards.

For now, however, Padres fans will be forced to root against an old friend as he suits up for a Giants team looking to contend in 2026.