Depending on who you ask, the New York Yankees are having ongoing talks with the San Diego Padres about potentially acquiring infielder Luis Arraez to play second base, or they haven’t discussed him for months. In any case, the reality indicates that the three-time batting champion is one of the few viable solutions for their conundrum at the keystone.
Acquiring Arraez from San Diego, a team expected to contend in 2025, hasn’t been easy, though. Otherwise, they would have done it by now or talks would have, at least, gained traction.
To this point, neither the Padres nor the Yankees knew exactly how much Arraez would make in 2025. The Friars and the player had until Thursday at 1 pm ET to exchange arbitration figures and avoid a hearing, and they did just that by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $14 million.
It represents a nice raise for the Yankees target, as he made $10.6 million last year in San Diego. The 2025 campaign will be his last before reaching free agency after the World Series.
Arraez is a viable option for the Yankees
Arraez won the batting title in the American League with the Minnesota Twins in 2022, when he was the only one preventing Yankees star Aaron Judge from taking home the Triple Crown.
He then moved to the National League and repeated batting titles in both 2023 (when he hit .354 and flirted with .400 for much of the first half) and 2024. He was also productive in those three years when it comes to wRC+, as he posted 130 marks in 2022 and 2023 and a slightly more modest 109 this past season.
There are other potential targets for the Yankees to consider at the keystone, but Arraez is shaping up as one of the best at this point of the off-season. Can they strike a deal at some point?