The Padres have averted arbitration with three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, reviews Robert Murray of FanSided. Arraez will earn $14M in 2025, his last 12 months of arbitration eligibility. A $14M payday represents a pleasant increase for the infielder, who made $10.6M in 2024, although it’s barely lower than his projected $14.6M wage (per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).
The Padres acquired Arraez in a commerce with the Marlins final Could. Though he represented San Diego on the All-Star Recreation this previous summer time and completed the season with an NL-best .314 batting common, the 2024 season was a down 12 months for Arraez. His .739 OPS and 109 wRC+ had been effectively under his .829 OPS and 130 wRC+ from 2022-23. As well as, his defensive numbers had been worse than ever. He accrued -3 DRS and -6 OAA at first base and -3 DRS and -7 OAA and second base. Thus, the Padres used him as their DH a great quantity of the time, reducing his total worth.
If Arraez can shore up his protection and get again to hitting like he did in 2022 and ’23, he’ll nonetheless be a cut price for San Diego at a $14M wage. Nevertheless, the Padres are considered attempting to chop payroll this winter. In keeping with RosterResource, their projected payroll for the 2025 season is $39M increased than their last payroll on the finish of 2024. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller is reportedly attempting to convey the payroll down someplace between its present projected determine and final 12 months’s last tally. If Preller plans to scale back payroll and nonetheless make any additions this winter, he’ll virtually definitely should commerce a few of his costlier veterans. Thus, Arraez’s identify has popped up in commerce rumors.
A few month in the past, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Padres had engaged in inner discussions about buying and selling Arraez. It’s not arduous to see why. His contract is extra tradeable than the longer-term offers belonging to Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, Joe Musgrove, or Yu Darvish. Dylan Cease has extra commerce worth than Arraez, however the Padres would possibly seemingly wish to hold him round for a similar causes. Stop is projected to earn $13.7M in arbitration, just like Arraez’s $14M wage. So, buying and selling Stop would liberate the same quantity of payroll as buying and selling Arraez, however it will imply giving up a much more productive participant.
But, the one group to be formally linked to Arraez this winter is the Yankees, and it’s unclear how New York is. ESPN’s Jeff Passan just lately wrote that the Yankees have “continued to debate” Arraez with the Padres, however the New York Post’s Jon Heyman and SNY’s Andy Martino have pushed again on that connection. Martino reviews that the Yankees “briefly” checked in on Arraez in November and “haven’t engaged with the Padres” since.
To additional complicate issues, Bob Nightengale of USA Today now reviews that the Padres “plan to maintain” Arraez in any case. That’s considerably stunning if the group continues to be critical about trimming payroll, however maybe the Padres determined groups across the league had been undervaluing Arraez after his down 12 months in 2024. That is likely to be the appropriate resolution. In spite of everything, if he can return to being the hitter he was from 2022-23, the Padres would have a tough time changing that manufacturing for lower than $14M.
