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By Ben Watanabe
Contributing Sports Writer
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No multi-time MLB All-Star, batting champion and Silver Slugger honoree has been more lowly regarded than Luis Arraez.
In the era of launch angle and exit velocity, Arraez has bounced around baseball with very little contractual interest relative to his resume. The reason is simple. Arraez is a singles slap hitter at a time when batting average is considered a flawed statistic by most talent evaluators. Others consider it entirely worthless.
So even though Arraez is believed to be available at Monday's trade deadline, the interest in him feels tepid.
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Still, the San Francisco Giants are looking to extract some value out of the veteran utility player.
"According to multiple execs, the Giants' asking price for Luis Arraez remains very high," MLB.com national reporter Mark Feinsand reported Sunday. "You'd have to assume that price will come down as the (d)eadline draws near; the Giants have absolutely no motivation to keep Arraez, who is a free agent after the season."
No matter your opinion of Arraez's usefulness, it's inarguable that he's a unique player. Unlike traditional contact-hitting utility men, Arraez is not a good defender or much of a threat on the basepaths. Chone Figgins he's not. His glove is best served for second base, first base and left field -- in other words, the most non-demanding positions on the field. He's stolen only 41 bases in his entire eight-year career.
The lukewarm opinion of Arraez might be overly influenced by past perception, however, because both traditional and advanced stats are kind to him this season.
He's once again leading the league in hitting with a .324 batting average, while his .801 OPS is creeping back upward to where it was during his finest years with the Minnesota Twins. His 127 OPS+ ranks among the best of his career. He's even 10 for 10 in steal attempts.
His swing speed is still geriatric, but he plays every day, which should be a factor for teams that, by definition of being in the trade market, likely have injury issues in their lineup that they're looking to address. And his .327 BABIP suggests his numbers are no fluke; rather than getting lucky or unlucky, he's producing precisely as is expected.
It's been a funny trade deadline season. The Washington Nationals are in the NL Wild Card picture but are looking to sell; the Chicago Cubs are farther back in their division than the Cleveland Guardians or Twins, but are looking to add much more aggressively. Rather than spice up the playoff race, the expanded wild card format has oddly led to teams that are technically still in the hunt going into sell mode.
What does this mean for Arraez? Perhaps a team like the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, who could benefit from having a player like him in their lineup to complement their sluggers, could make a play. Or perhaps the Giants receive no reasonable offers and choose to let his $12 million contract simply lapse at the end of the season. Unfortunately for the Giants, Arraez might be better than he's ever been, but nobody seems to realize it.
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