Giants trade Luis Arraez to Phillies at MLB trade deadline

Giants trade Luis Arraez to Phillies at MLB trade deadline

The most anticipated move of the San Francisco Giants’ firesale came approximately eight hours before MLB’s trade deadline.

Second baseman Luis Arraez was shipped to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday morning with reliever Caleb Kilian in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects.

The Phillies are sending their No. 4 prospect, Ramon Marquez, and Marty Gair in exchange for Arraez and Kilian, ESPN.com reported.

Luis Arraez has been traded away from the Giants. Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Marquez, 20, has quickly risen up the prospect ranks since signing as an international free agent out of Mexico for only $10,000 in 2025. He has a 1.68 ERA, primarily as a starting pitcher, between Single-A and High-A this season.

Gair, 23, has been exclusively used as a reliever since being drafted out of Florida Southwestern State JC in 2023, posting a 4.50 ERA with six saves in 30 appearances in Single-A.

Arraez, 29, was one of the few bright spots in what is otherwise shaping up to be one of the most dreadful seasons in franchise history.

But, as the Giants fell further out of contention, he also became one of the most anticipated trade targets leading up to the Aug. 3 deadline.

What it means for the Giants

The loss of Arraez deals a serious blow to the entertainment level of the final two months of the season, subtracting one of the most exciting and dynamic players from a team that was already too often a tough watch.

Arraez’s signing was initially met with mixed reactions but now looks like one of the shrewdest moves for Buster Posey, the Giants’ president of baseball operations. And yet, because few of his other moves panned out, his hand was forced to try to recoup some long-term value.

Casey Schmitt would have been a natural fit at second base down the stretch for San Francisco, but he tore his left meniscus and could miss the rest of the season.

Kilian, 29, was the only reliever in manager Tony Vitello’s makeshift bullpen to formally be named the closer, on June 12, but the team had since moved back to a by-committee approach.

He finished 23 games with eight saves in 11 chances and a 4.26 ERA since arriving in spring training as a non-roster invitee. Six months later, he was traded by the Giants for a second time. Kilian was also dealt away as a Giants prospect in 2021 for Kris Bryant when San Francisco was in buyer’s mode.

Giants top baseball executive Buster Posey (l) alongside manager Tony Vitello (r). Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP

What it means for Luis Arraez

Arraez will be a rental for Philadelphia, after signing a one-year, $12 million contract with the Giants — the only team to offer him the opportunity to play second base.

His defensive reputation was so poor that he had been relegated to first base and designated hitter the past two seasons and hadn’t played second base regularly since 2024.

Arraez struck up a relationship with Ron Washington in the early days of Giants spring training. He established a reputation as one of the hardest workers on the team and become an unlikely Gold Glove candidate in the process, routinely making slick plays on the right side of the diamond.

Luis Arraez improved defensively this season. John Hefti-Imagn Images

A couple down years at the plate, at least his standards as one of the game’s top contact hitters, also left Arraez with fewer options this past winter.

But he has responded with arguably the best offensive season of his career.

Bringing an exciting flair to each at-bat (and just about everything he does), Arraez has reclaimed his spot near the top of the National League leaders in batting average.

He is also the surest bet in baseball to put the ball in play, rarely striking out.


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The mid-career renaissance earned Arraez the fourth All-Star selection of his career. In Philadelphia, Arraez was asked about the possibility of playing another position. Just as he did this past winter, he said he had no desire to play anywhere but second base.

Now, he’ll get the opportunity he wasn’t offered by any other team. And whether he can keep it up without Washington, a fielding savant who Arraez said was like a “grandfather,” will be put to the test, with a potential big payday this winter as the ultimate prize on the horizon.

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