{"id":565412,"date":"2026-02-11T03:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/565412\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T03:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:06:12","slug":"what-luis-arraez-addition-means-for-giants-young-infielders-nbc-sports-bay-area-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/565412\/","title":{"rendered":"What Luis Arr\u00e1ez addition means for Giants\u2019 young infielders \u2013 NBC Sports Bay Area & California"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCOTTSDALE \u2014 Because Luis Arr\u00e1ez<\/a> met with the media after his one-year contract with the Giants became official, he wasn’t initially on the back field when the other infielders went through drills for the first time. Until Arr\u00e1ez arrived, Casey Schmitt<\/a> took the grounders at second base.<\/p>\n

Schmitt was the starter heading into the offseason, and given how many holes there were on the pitching side, it would have been very easy for the Giants to stick with that plan. The 26-year-old has shown flashes at the plate in recent years and slimmed down a bit this winter to be more agile at second base, but Buster Posey and the rest of the front office spent all winter chasing middle infielders.<\/p>\n

Brendan Donovan<\/a> was a target\u00a0early in the offseason, and the Giants also were connected to Nico Hoerner<\/a> and CJ Abrams<\/a> in recent weeks before signing Arr\u00e1ez. After the deal became official<\/a>, Posey explained why he felt it was necessary to seek out a new second baseman.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Casey did make some big strides last year. (Christian) Koss, the same thing — he made some big strides,” Posey said. “Adding a guy like Arr\u00e1ez, I think, is an opportunity for a guy like Casey and a guy like Koss to learn from, as well, as they continue their development. And then it just gives us another layer of depth in our infield to have Arr\u00e1ez, and then Casey (can be) a guy that can play multiple positions. Same thing with Koss.”<\/p>\n

Schmitt got 193 plate appearances at second base last year and Koss took 137. The team leader was actually Tyler Fitzgerald<\/a>, who started the season at second base after a breakout 2024 but struggled at the plate. Posey said he has heard good things about the way Fitzgerald has been swinging the bat in recent workouts, and Fitzgerald said he feels much better than he did a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’ll get some looks at him on the infield (and) potentially in the outfield, as well, and just see if some of that versatility will again add another layer of depth,” Posey said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For all three young infielders, versatility will be crucial. The roster won’t be as flexible if Bryce Eldridge<\/a> wins a first base\/DH job alongside Rafael Devers, and the need for speed and defensive versatility<\/a> will be even greater if Jerar Encarnacion<\/a> wins an outfield job. At least one of the backup infielders may also have to serve as an occasional outfielder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald has big league experience in the outfield and Koss got reps there in Winter Ball a year ago. Both can also play all over the infield, and Schmitt is comfortable at all four spots after picking up first base early last season in an effort to get more at-bats against left-handed pitching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the Giants won’t need him to give Devers a day off against a tough lefty anytime soon, Schmitt could still see plenty of plate appearances by moving around. It’s not what he expected heading into the offseason, but the front office felt strongly that adding at second base would make the entire roster more dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Depending on the matchup, if we feel like it’s a good matchup for him to get in there and be in the lineup, we could insert him at different spots,” Posey said of Schmitt. “Obviously, the DH could be open\u00a0in some games. Maybe somebody else is DH’ing and he’s playing in the field.”<\/p>\n

First Round of Roster Moves<\/p>\n

Day one brought updates on several rehabbing Giants, beginning with Randy Rodriguez, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and was placed on the 60-day IL to open up a roster spot for Arr\u00e1ez. Offseason addition Jason Foley can also be placed on the 60-day if the Giants need another spot; the right-handed reliever is expected to be out until midseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lefty reliever Sam Hentges has had right knee and left shoulder procedures since the last time he was on a big league mound. He’s not 100 percent yet, but he threw a bullpen on Tuesday<\/p>\n

Anyone Else?\u00a0<\/p>\n

There has been a flurry of one-year deals this week as veterans look to lock up a spot for the 2026 season, but Posey doesn’t expect much more action for the Giants. Asked about potentially adding, he mentioned multiple times that he’s happy with the roster and that the front office is in “listening” mode when it comes to free agency at this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the players to sign this week was Justin Verlander, who returned to Detroit. Posey said he spoke with Verlander early in the offseason but there were no recent talks about a reunion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Staff ace Logan Webb sent Verlander a congratulatory text when the news became official.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m excited for him. I think that’s something that he always wanted to do, is go back there,” Webb said. “Knowing the competitor that he is, I don’t think that means he’s going to be done after this year. I think it’s definitely something he wanted to do is go back there and pitch there at least a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As a baseball fan, it’s fun to see. I know he won a World Series and Cy Youngs in other uniforms and he played here for a year, but Justin is a Tiger. I mean, he is Billy Chapel. It’ll be great to see just as a fan of baseball.”<\/p>\n

Familiar Faces<\/p>\n

Former Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti was helping as an instructor Tuesday, and he’ll be joined this week by Yusmeiro Petit, who returned to the organization last spring. Posey brought a lot of old teammates back last year and that will continue under Tony Vitello.<\/p>\n

Others expected in camp are Joe Panik, Gregor Blanco, Chili Davis, Jeff Kent, Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Belt, Marco Scutaro, Rich Aurilia, Sergio Romo, Jeffrey Leonard, Pablo Sandoval, Hunter Pence and Will Clark. The Giants are also hopeful that Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong are able to come work with their pitchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTTSDALE \u2014 Because Luis Arr\u00e1ez met with the media after his one-year contract with the Giants became official,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,6595,6463,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-565412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-buster-posey","10":"tag-giants-analysis","11":"tag-luis-arraez"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116049791319628998","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}