RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired veteran infielder and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants at the Aug. 3 Major League Baseball trade deadline, the team announced Monday. Right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian is also going from the Giants to the Phillies in the trade. Going back to the Giants, are pitching prospects Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair.
Arraez, 29, has enjoyed a strong rebound season in 2026 for the Giants:
That's good for an OPS+ of 127, which, if sustained, would be close to a career high for Arraez, a four-time All-Star. That's a positive development for Arraez, who in 2025 dipped to a slash line of .292/.327/.392 with the Padres and raised concerns about premature decline at the plate. After parts of eight seasons in the majors, Arraez is the active career leader in batting average with a mark of .318.
This season marked a return to second base for Arraez after being a primary first baseman for the prior two seasons. Leading up to the deadline, Arraez professed a strong preference for remaining at second base in the event of a trade out of San Francisco.
Arraez is on a one-year contract and is owed the balance of a $12 million salary for 2026. He'll re-enter the free agent market this coming offseason.
Kilian, 29, this season has pitched to a 4.26 ERA and a 3.59 FIP in 44 ⅓ innings for the Giants with 53 strikeouts against 18 unintentional walks. He had rookie eligibility coming into the current season, so he's controllable for several years to come.
Arraez's professed a strong preference for remaining at second base even in the event of a trade, and it appears the Phillies will accommodate him. As MLB.com notes, Bryce Harper is willing to return to a corner outfield role. That, in turn, means that Alec Bohm will shift across the diamond to first base, current second baseman Bryson Stott will move to third, and Arraez will remain at second base.
On the Giants' side of things, Marquez, a 20-year-old right-hander, has two pro seasons under his belt, and he's reached High-A this season. Across those two minor league campaigns, he's pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 23 starts and three relief appearances. Across those 114 innings, Marquez has struck out 165 batters against 36 walks. Gair, 23 and a former 13th-rounder, has also reached High-A this season in this, his second campaign as a pro. In 54 minor-league relief appearances, he has an ERA of 4.43 with 106 strikeouts and 56 walks in 63 innings.
Here now are our trade grades for this one.
Ideally, this infield addition would've allowed the Phillies to move the defensively deficient Trea Turner off of shortstop, but even absent that, Arraez is a useful pick-up. There's some regression potential, as his expected metrics based on quality of contact fall shy of his outputs, but that's often been the case for him. The Phillies badly needed better production from the non-first base portions of their infield and Arraez will help that situation.
You're not going to get a haul for a rental position player who lacks power, and the Giants did indeed not get a haul for Arraez. They did, however, add strikeout potential to the lower rungs of their system with Marquez and Gair. Marquez, a starter who's quite young for his level, in particular seems promising. It's also a wise decision to sell for a team that's buried in the standings and badly needs some long-term upside.
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