Luis Arráez is an interesting player. He has a keen ability to pepper the diamond with hits, having led the National League in hits in each of the last two seasons and winning the batting title in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He also rarely strikes out. However, he lacks power and doesn't walk much. Despite leading the NL in hits last season, he had a 99 OPS+. Additionally, he is a poor defender, posting -60 Outs Above Average throughout his career.
Arráez, who the Twins traded to the Miami Marlins for starting pitcher Pablo López during the 2022-23 offseason, posted 11.9 bWAR from 2021-23. Then, he posted 1.0 bWAR in 2024 and 1.2 bWAR in 2025. The Marlins traded him to the San Diego Padres during the 2024 season, and he recently signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the San Francisco Giants after becoming a free agent this offseason.
Arráez has played first, second and third base and corner outfield during his MLB career. Last season with San Diego, the former Twin only played first and second base, but appeared in just 14 games at the latter position.
With the Giants, Arráez will be a primary second baseman while Rafael Devers will be the club's starting first baseman. Before Arráez signed with San Francisco, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported the infielder was considering one- and multi-year deals, but preferred to sign with a team that would allow him to mainly play second base.
Twins made the right decision not to reunite with former star Luis Arráez considering his position preference
Even though Arráez lacks power and the ability to draw walks at a high rate, there's no doubt that he would improve a lot of big-league lineups. The fact that you can count on him to put the ball in play almost every time he's at the plate is valuable in a way his stats don't show.
But the Twins still made the right decision by not reuniting with the club's former star. If he had been willing to play first base next season, then there's an argument that Minnesota should've attempted to sign him rather than bringing in Josh Bell and Eric Wagaman. However, the Twins don't have room for another second baseman, much less a poor defensive second baseman. For now, it appears Luke Keaschall will be the team's Opening Day second baseman. Keaschall may move to the outfield at some point, but only to clear space for top infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper.