What the Guardians need, as we all know, is another left-handed hitter who lacks slugging. So, let’s talk about Luis Arraez.
You can view our larger trade deadline piece here as we discuss a wider pool of options the Guardians may consider. To make my position clear, I expect the Guardians to make smaller moves, like trading Bo Naylor and getting a castoff/undervalued reliever. But, in the interest of exploring potential larger moves, we are doing a series looking at some of those bigger names. So
far, we have discussed Spencer Steer. Today, we look at San Diego Padres All-Star Luis Arraez.
First, Arraez the player. He has a career 118 wRC+ and has a 125 wRC+ this season. Under Ron Washington’s tutelage, he has become a good defensive second baseman by OAA at +10, while remaining at -2 DRS. He has a career 93 wRC+ vs LHP and 126 wRC+ vs RHP. He puts the ball in play all the time as his 4.3% strikeout rate is an anachronism in today’s game as is his career .318 batting average. He is on a rental contract with the flailing Padres Who seem destined to trade him by August 3rd.
So how would Luis Arraez fit here? The Guardians are not likely to move Travis Bazzana off second base for Arraez, so he would likely come here to play first and DH. Arraez has a career 128 wRC+ in high leverage situations, and a 135 wRC+ with Men on Base, and a 125 wRC+ with Runners in Scoring Position. He has been an average first baseman by DRS at +2 and a poor one by OAA at -13, both career numbers. With Arraez only under control through the end of this season, the concept behind this trade would be to move away for at least the rest of this season from Kyle Manzardo and substitute a high batting average hitter who has performed well in the circumstances in which Manzardo has failed.
I do think there is potential that Cleveland may be salivating over the possibility of stacking a lineup with players like Arraez, Bazzana, Jose Ramirez, Chase DeLauter and Steven Kwan at the top of the order. All are effective at putting up lengthy at-bats. All make a lot of contact. The slugging issues on the team will remain, but they can hope to gain some slugging as their young players continue to gain comfort and Jose’s hand continues to strengthen after surgery.
Arraez is definitely not my top choice for a trade acquisition and I doubt he is Cleveland’s number one option. I suspect someone will pay more than the Guardians are willing to pay to get Arraez as a second baseman for the stretch run. But, I can imagine a scenario where the Guardians make a play for this throwback player. Again, I would not touch Angel Genao, Ralphy Velazquez, Braylon Doughty, Juneiker Caceres out of the prospects in the minor leagues. Perhaps San Diego would be interested in fixing Manzardo, who would still be quite the overpay for two-three months of Arraez. But, I suspect some combination of Guardians prospects could make this work if Cleveland and San Diego are mutually interested.
A resulting lineup could be;
- Kwan CF
- Jose 3B
- Arraez 1B
- DeLauter RF
- Hoskins DH
- Bazzana 2B
- Rocchio SS
- Bailey C
- Martinez LF
That is definitely an uncomfortable lineup for pitchers to face, even if still lacking thump. Let me know what you think in the comments below about a potential trade for Luis Arraez!
