Padres All-Star Infielder Linked to 3 Teams if San Diego Decides to Sell and Buy

The San Diego Padres have some major needs they will need to fill at the deadline and have the best contact hitter in baseball to barter with.

First baseman Luis Arraez has been linked to three teams ahead of the July 31 trade deadline by The Athletic: the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. The three-time All-Star is believed to have an intermediate likelihood of being traded.

Arraez is a three-time batting champion, winning once in the American League in 2022 and twice in a row in the National League in 2023 and 2024. But he has not performed as well this season, averaging a career-low .292 in 101 games.

Despite his recent struggles, Arraez still has the lowest strikeout percentage in MLB (2.7). He has struck out 12 times in 411 at-bats this season, highlighting his smart decision-making at the plate. 

The Padres are expected to be buyers at the deadline. San Diego currently holds the third NL Wild Card spot and are four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

But trading Arraez could give the Padres some more financial flexibility to be able to land top players like Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran. San Diego has reportedly already sent Boston an offer for Duran, which included starting pitcher Dylan Cease, the Padres’ No. 2 overall prospect Ethan Salas and an unnamed second top prospect.

The Red Sox quickly rejected this offer but adding Arraez, who will be a free agent after this season, into the mix could help the Padres acquire Duran. However, Padres insider Dennis Lin of The Athletic has reported that Arraez has not drawn much interest from teams in the trade market. 

"It doesn’t seem likely,” Lin wrote about a trade involving Arraez. “Most other teams already don’t value him as much as the Padres do.”

He may not be that attention-grabbing home run hitter, as he holds a career-high of 10 home runs in 2023 and has only hit six this season. But Arraez is a reliable batter that can put the ball in play, which will come in handy for teams in the postseason.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.