The Giants are supposedly bringing in Luis Arráez to play second base. I used to say I would "take anyone on a one or two year deal" but this is a real head-scratcher.
Arráez never strikes out and sprays the ball all over the field. The lefty has won the batting title three times and has a career .317 batting average, best in the sport. He led the NL in hits last season. He's 28 and has over a thousand career hits.
But he's a terrible fielder and doesn't hit for power. What do you do with a guy like that?
I don't want to knock Arráez who really is quite incredible at what he does. It's just that the Giants needed CJ Abrams or Nico Hoerner or Brendan Donovan and we settled for Arráez. It could work, of course. He could get on base at a nice clip and complement the rest of the slugging infield. And maybe Schmitt will thrive in a utility role and we can keep the guys fresh.
Ah well, it's BusterTime™ and in Buster we Truster!
--M.C.
20 comments:
If you check out Arráez' page on FanGraphs it shows the projections for 2026.
https://www.fangraphs.com/players/luis-arraez/18568/stats/batting
All the systems like him and think he'll be a 2-WAR player.
Giants second baseman last season were among the bottom, collectively, in MLB. So, this could be an improvement!
But I really worry about his glove. He mostly played 1B last year for the Padres. Maybe he starts games and leads off, then after he gets his hits then Schmitt comes in for late game defense.
We keep blocking our young players. Both Fitz, and Schmidt were plus WAR fielders Arraez and devers on the right side of the infield will not make webb happy, and it could effect our attempts to sign an elite sinker ball pitcher. It reminds me a little bit of the Bill Madlock experiment back in the early 80's. Would like to see Schmidt, Matos and or Fitzgerald, break out. Seems we always undervalue our own talent, and/or find ways to thwart their development.
I think Devers is fine at 1B, I don't think he's a negative there. After all, he was a third baseman for most of his career.
I'm not sure if we are blocking our talent or our talent just isn't that deep, organization-wise. It seems our last few prospects have fizzled, at least in the short term (Bart, Luciano, Harrison).
Buster seems to be setting the bar and saying "play better than this established veteran." I suspect they would drop Arraez in a heartbeat if a young buck like Schmitt blossomed. We really need a young player or two to step up. And we need to start getting better results from the drafts.
Schmitt will likely start against lefties so he'll have to show he can take advantage of that platoon split.
I would not be surprised to see a trade. Perhaps a collection of a few youngsters without clear roles on the club for, maybe, a reasonably young pitcher with upside (?) Maybe they save that for later, though and sign a Verlander-type vet.
Yeah I could see that. If they are doing well at mid-season I could see them swinging a trade for a big arm. They could sign someone like Max Scherzer right now so I sure hope if they make a move it if for a young buck.
Jay Jaffe's (FanGraphs) concluding thoughts on Arráez and the Giants:
All told, while Arraez may be a bit of an awkward fit for second base, the particulars here are enough to help mitigate the risk. In the big picture, the Giants chose this winter to steer clear of long-term free agent deals while trying to stay under the first competitive balance tax threshold of $244 million. All six free agents they’ve signed to major league deals have been on either one-year contracts (starter Tyler Mahle, relievers Jason Foley and Sam Hentges, and Arraez) or two-year ones (center fielder Harrison Bader and starter Adrian Houser); per RosterResource, that’s left them with a $232.7 million tax payroll, giving them about $11 million of space before bumping up against the threshold. Those aren’t bad moves — San Francisco’s 84-win ZiPS projection is the second-highest total in the NL West — but they’re not high-impact ones. We’ll see if they’re enough for a Giants team that has finished within four games of .500 in five of the past six seasons to mount a challenge for a playoff spot.
The Tigers are in agreement with Framber Valdez on a three-year, $115MM contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal includes an opt-out after the second season, Passan adds. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, there’s some amount of deferred money. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that Valdez receives a $20MM signing bonus.
From MLBTR
This is something the Giants could have pulled off.
Giants add former Tiger RoY and All Star Michael Fulmer as a non-roster invitee, along with former Pirate youngster Jared Oliva. Fuller has been hurt a lot.
Fulmer just might be the guy for a swingman role. That long relief/spot starter thing is very valuable in my mind (think Yusmeiro Petit).
I wonder how many ROYs are also 1st-rounders?
Fulmer was actually outside the top 30 picks (he was 44th) in 2011 but so was Blake Snell (#52). They were in the "supplemental" part. Giants took Joe Panik at #29. Gerrit Cole was #1. Francisco Lindor (#8) has the most bWAR (55.7) of the group. Other notables from that class are Anthony Rendon, Sonny Gray, and George Springer.
Kyle Harrison is back in the NL. The Brewers pulled off a big trade with the Red Sox. The lefty is still just 24. It hasn't gone well for him in the bigs but he's still got time to figure it out.
Justin Verlander goes back to Detroit on a 1-year deal ($13M).
That gives Detroit a rotation with Skubal, Valdez, and Verlander.
They also have Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize. Plus a trio of youngsters. They should be deep.
Tigers also signed Austin Slater (to a minors deal).
I see the Giants have signed another hurt pitcher, Rowan Wick. He's 33 and there is a team option for 2027.
Yeah that's a 'futures' contract! I guess he can't pitch until next year.
Seems as if the giants are only one of a few teams that is using this approach.
Giants have now signed outfielder Will Brennan to a one year deal. I was wondering why they didn't put Rowan Wick on the 60 day IL as soon as they signed him. Well, now they have, to make room for this guy.
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