The San Francisco Giants spent most of the offseason looking for a second baseman. They didn’t need one, but it was the most obvious way to upgrade the lineup, defense or both. So they likely considered expensive ones, inexpensive ones, locally sourced ones and even one with two first names.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that the Giants signed a second baseman just before spring training. And, if you’re an optimist, he has a heck of an elevator pitch: He’s a 28-year-old, three-time All-Star, and he led the National League in hits last season. He has already accumulated 16.4 career WAR, which is more than a lot of other second basemen you’ve heard of, like Freddy Sanchez or Brendan Donovan. The Giants’ new second baseman has stayed healthy, too, with more than 600 plate appearances in each of the last four seasons. And how long did the Giants have to commit to this seemingly perfect fit? Just one year at a cost of $12.4 million.

The Giants’ new second baseman is Luis Arraez, and he’s absolutely all of the above: a repeat All-Star, still in his 20s, coming off an NL-best 181 hits. If this all sounds a little too perfect, that’s because there’s a catch. It’s the reason this obvious fit didn’t even appear in my recent ranking of remaining free agents.

The problem with Arraez is the ol’ Hamlet question: 2B or not 2B? Over the last two seasons, the Padres seemingly answered the question. He was not 2B, and they did not think it was very noble to suffer the slings and arrows of a second baseman who couldn’t really throw. His range might have been even worse. It wasn’t an open question; it was settled science.

The Giants will play him at second base, possibly as a condition of signing him. Arraez correctly realizes that he’ll never get the long-term deal he wants as a first baseman, so he wants one more crack at second, and the Giants are daring to dream along with him. Or deluding themselves along with him. It’s a fine line.

You can understand why they’re willing to take the risk, though, considering the best-case scenario is a batting champion in his prime. Any team will put up with weird defense if it comes with that kind of bat, and Arraez definitely has two skills the Giants were missing, with a high average and low strikeout rate. If he can play a passable second base …

Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, let’s jot down some quick thoughts about the Giants’ new second baseman(?).

Don’t focus too much on the position

Yes, it’s a risk to assume Arraez can be a passable defender at second. But it’s also a risk to assume that Bryce Eldridge is ready for 500 at-bats in the major leagues, or that Jerar Encarnación can stay healthy. What the Giants have now is a better option at DH than either of those two.

Arraez is emphatically not a DH, at least for the moment, but you get the idea. The Giants have a better lineup, top to bottom, than they did before the weekend. It’s a lineup that should score runs. How it works out defensively, or the exact permutation of the hitters involved, is a different concern, but Arraez can hit. His .292 average last season (fourth in the NL) was the worst of his seven-season career. Get him into the lineup first, figure out the rest later.

Except maybe Arraez isn’t Eldridge insurance. Maybe he’s Rafael Devers insurance. While Devers’ defense at first was a pleasant surprise last season, and there’s room for cautious optimism heading into 2026, he’s still learning the position. Arraez is more of a known quantity at first base, even if that quantity is “yuk.” That’s still better than unplayable, and it gives the Giants options.

Think of Arraez as a lineup lengthener first, then worry about his potential to be a generationally lousy defense later. Yes, Hyeseong Kim might hit an inside-the-park home run on a drag bunt to the right side that gets past the pitcher, but there are six months to figure this all out. The idea is to have Arraez raking throughout and worry about untenable defense when you’re forced to.

Arraez isn’t a confusing player

You’ll often see him described as confusing, or even the most confusing player in baseball. That’s because of all the red and blue ink on his Baseball Savant page. He hits the ball softer than anyone else in baseball, but he also makes more contact than anyone in baseball. He doesn’t walk, and he doesn’t run fast, but he squares the ball up like no one else. Check out some of his percentiles on that Savant page from the last three seasons:

Arraez is an outlier, a freak. And I’ve seen an outlier with those kinds of percentiles before. By gum, he’s the Tyler Rogers of hitters.

Actually, that’s a useful comparison, because while Rogers is a certified bullpen weirdo, he’s also been one of the least confusing players in baseball. Every year, he gets outs. He’ll allow weird hits and prevent hard hits. His ERA will be sparkly, and he’ll help his team save leads.

That’s Arraez, but on the hitting side. His bat is an 81-mph sinker of a wet noodle, going through the zone at .75x speed … but he posts. Every year, it’s the same thing. He stays healthy and hits .290 or better with a bunch of doubles. He’s not exactly Tony Gwynn, so his speed and defense keep him from being worth more than a win or two … but he’s always worth a win or two. Sometimes, even three or four.

Arraez hasn’t come close to hitting .354/.393/.469, like he did in 2023, but that’s because nobody has. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t consistently rake, in his unique (and limited) fashion. He’ll come up to the plate and get a hit more than almost anyone else in baseball. That has value, even if it’s a little old-fashioned.

This is a good time to remember that Ron Washington is on the Giants’ coaching staff

This isn’t just an excuse to include the video of the iconic “Moneyball” scene, although that’s always fun:

That bad boy’s got 10 million views on YouTube for a reason. Everybody loves it when cinematic Ron Washington says “it’s incredibly hard” to learn to play the infield. While Arraez isn’t a newbie (he’s played 359 games at second in the majors), he could definitely use some additional coaching.

But it’s important to remember that Washington is on the Giants’ coaching staff. You might want to roll your eyes when you hear someone puff up a coach’s potential effect, but there have always been two reliable exceptions for me: Davey Lopes and stolen bases, and Washington with his infield drills, which almost murdered our own intrepid Sam Blum.

Maybe it’ll make a difference, or maybe Arraez will have to be a DH. If there was any combination of coach and wacky idea that should make you pay attention, it’s this one. Remember, all the Giants are looking for is “bad” or “worse than OK” at second.

Ask the old people about Bill Madlock

Once upon a time, the Giants had a 28-year-old batting champ named Bill Madlock, and he played an ugly second base. After a first-half slump, the Giants traded him away, and he ended up winning two more batting titles.

Is this to suggest that Arraez will follow a similar path? Hey, it’s possible. Mostly, though, I like to remind everyone that Madlock was traded for Al Holland and Ed Whitson, who were traded for Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, respectively. Without Madlock, the Giants are on their fifth broadcasting duo since the ballpark opened, never landing on the right fit. Madlock might be behind Willie Mays and Barry Bonds in terms of franchise importance, but only by a slightly hyperbolic amount.

Mostly, though, it’s a fun comparison because Madlock was also a guy who had problems not hitting, and it’s easy to see Arraez putting up a .280 average with doubles power and creaky knees in his late 30s, like Madlock did with the Tigers. The Giants don’t have to worry about that version of Arraez, though. They’re getting the one in his prime. At least that’s the idea, and they’re willing to sacrifice a little (or a lot of) defense to find out.

We’ll see how Logan Webb feels about the experiment by the end of April, but if he’s winning games 4-3 instead of losing them 3-2, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll mind that much.