The San Francisco Giants look headed for full sell mode at the trade deadline, and that puts Luis Arraez right in the spotlight.
With Buster Posey running baseball operations, any Giant on an expiring contract should be in play. Arraez stands out as the most appealing name in that group. The 29-year-old second baseman is a three-time batting champion, and he’s exactly the kind of leadoff hitter several clubs will be chasing.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield pointed to one AL West team as the ideal landing spot on Thursday: the Texas Rangers.
“The [Texas] Rangers have started six different players at second base, with light-hitting journeyman Nicky Lopez getting the starts there of late, so Arraez is an obvious upgrade,” Schoenfield wrote.
“They've also been hitting Joc Pederson leadoff, which isn't the worst idea, but they could slide Arraez into that role and move Pederson down into an RBI position.”
Schoenfield went even further, calling the Rangers the “perfect” fit for Arraez.
The case is easy to see. Arraez has also made major strides defensively at second base, and his bat remains one of the most distinctive in the sport. This season, the left-handed hitter is batting .326/.361/.463 with four home runs, 32 RBIs, and a .824 OPS.
He has done that in 358 plate appearances, with 19 walks and just 13 strikeouts.
The Rangers aren’t sitting atop the AL, but the AL West is there to be won. That’s why a push for a player like Arraez makes sense.
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