Multiple reports have linked the Yankees to Luis Arraez, the Padres infielder who is coming off a third straight batting title after hitting .314 in 2024.
Arraez also led the league in hits last season with an even 200 after logging a career-high 203 hits with a .354 batting average in Miami in 2023.
Despite the impressive batting average and hit totals, Chris McMonigle would be very hesitant to sacrifice any trade assets for Arraez, because his batting average and hits are the only part of his game that is impressive at all.
“For someone who has won three straight batting titles...he’s not even an excellent offensive player,” C-Mac said. “He’s an excellent hitter. That’s all he does.
“‘Hey Chris, they might trade for a three-time batting champion.’ That sounds excellent, and you put a three-time batting champion in front of Aaron Judge...that gives him a little more protection. But he hits for zero power. Zero. This is a guy who had a WAR of one. A 1-WAR player who wins a batting title? How is that possible? I think he’s overrated, because he doesn’t do anything else offensively.”
Arraez hit just four home runs in 2024, and has never hit more than 10 in a season. His slugging percentage was under .400 last year despite leading the league in hits, and going off of OPS+, his season was just six percent above league average. So, Arraez undoubtedly gets on base, but C-Mac notes that he can’t run the bases at all, and for Yankee fans that were frustrated with Gleyber Torres’ baserunning and defense, be prepared to be even more furious if Arraez is in pinstripes.
“He’s also terrible defensively,” C-Mac said. “As a second baseman, Gleyber Torres had his errors...but he had some range and a strong arm. He had tools to allow him to be a pretty good second baseman. He just couldn’t get around the bonehead mistakes...Luis Arraez does not have any tools. He’s not athletic, he doesn’t have range, and doesn’t have a throwing arm.”