Giants land another key piece in 3-time batting champ Arraez (source)

January 31st, 2026

Maria Guardado

The Giants have been shopping around for second-base upgrades throughout the offseason. On Saturday, they finally got their guy.

The Giants have agreed to a one-year deal worth $12 million with three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The team has not confirmed the agreement, which is pending a physical.

San Francisco reportedly explored trades for the Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and the Nationals’ CJ Abrams before eventually pivoting to the 28-year-old Arraez, who is known for his elite bat-to-ball skills and leads active players with a .317 career batting average over his seven seasons with the Twins, Marlins and Padres.

Arraez has topped the National League in hits in each of the past two seasons, displaying the knack for contact that Buster Posey -- another former NL batting champion -- has put a premium on since taking over as the Giants’ president of baseball operations.

Giants second basemen tied for 26th in the Majors with a .617 OPS in 2025, so Arraez should help deepen a lineup that is projected to include three other talented infielders in third baseman Matt Chapman, shortstop Willy Adames and first baseman Rafael Devers.

The left-handed-hitting Arraez recorded the lowest strikeout rate (3.1%) among qualified hitters in the Majors en route to batting .292 with a .719 OPS and eight home runs over 154 games for San Diego last year. But he also finished the season with a career-low 99 OPS+, which put him a tick below league average.

While Arraez excels at spraying the ball all over the field, he rarely posts impressive exit velocities and finished last among qualified hitters with a 16.7% hard-hit rate in 2025. Arraez also has deficiencies with the glove, as he’s tallied -35 Outs Above Average since 2023, the second-worst mark in the Majors behind Abrams. Arraez primarily played first base for the Padres, but the Giants plan to slot him back into second base, a position he hasn’t played full-time since 2023. Still, San Francisco could try to mitigate Arraez’s defensive shortcomings by regularly mixing in Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss at the position.

Arraez’s arrival figures to push Schmitt into a super-utility role, though Schmitt has grown accustomed to playing all over the infield over his last three seasons with the Giants.

Arraez is the second free-agent position player the Giants have signed this offseason, joining center fielder Harrison Bader, who finalized a two-year, $20.5 million contract on Friday. San Francisco also bolstered its pitching staff by signing veteran starters Adrian Houser (two years, $22 million) and Tyler Mahle (one year, $10 million) and relievers Sam Hentges (one year, $1.4 million) and Jason Foley (one year, $2 million).

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Former Cincinnati Reds Reliever Signs With Chicago White Sox

He spent last season with the Nationals.

Greg Kuffner

6 minutes ago

Former Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Lucas Sims has signed a deal with the Chicago White Sox.

Sims came over to the Reds in 2018 when Cincinnati sent outfielder Adam Duvall to the Atlanta Braves. He was with Cincinnati from 2018 to 2024, before trading him to the Boston Red Sox at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline.

n his seven years with the Reds, Sims mostly pitched in relief, appearing in 210 games with a 3.94 ERA. He struck out 290 batters in 224 innings.

The 31-year-old struggled mightily with Washington in 2025, giving up 19 runs in just 12 1/3 innings. He struggled with his command, walking 14 batters, and he hit another seven with a pitch.

Sims was drafted 21st overall in the 2012 MLB Draft by the Braves. He made his MLB debut on August 1, 2017, and gave up three runs over six innings of work against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sims has great stuff and has the potential to be great when he's throwing strikes. However, he's struggled with his command most of his career.

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[ Sox starting to stockpile relief pitchers similar to the Guardians hoping they find a diamond in the ruff. Sims could be the answer in a middle relief role. ]

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White Sox to acquire righty Jordan Hicks in trade with Red Sox (source)

7 minutes ago

MLB.com

The White Sox have acquired right-hander Jordan Hicks and pitching prospect David Sandlin from the Red Sox for righty Gage Ziehl, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand on Sunday. The clubs have not confirmed the deal.

The 29-year-old Hicks went 2-7 with a 6.95 ERA in 34 games (nine starts) with the Red Sox and Giants during the 2025 season. Boston acquired Hicks from San Francisco in the Rafael Devers blockbuster trade in June. Hicks posted an 8.20 ERA in 21 games out of the bullpen with the Red Sox following the deal. Despite his struggles in 2025, Hicks still ranked in the 92nd percentile for fastball velocity (97.5 mph) and generated a ton of ground balls, with his 56.7% rate in the 95th percentile.

Sandlin was the No. 8 prospect in the Red Sox system, per MLB Pipeline. Ziehl was ranked No. 14 in the White Sox system.

The Red Sox are sending $8 million to the White Sox in the deal, per Feinsand. Hicks is owed $24 million over the next two years.


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the Red Sox are sending right-hander Jordan Hicks to the White Sox, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin is also headed to Chicago alongside Hicks, as noted by Passan. The Red Sox are receiving right-handed pitching prospect Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later in return, according to James Fegan of SoxMachine. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that the Red Sox are including some cash in the deal, while the White Sox will take on the majority of Hicks’s salary. Will Sammon of The Athletic specifies that Boston will send $8MM cash to Chicago as part of the deal.

The move is a salary dump for the Red Sox, who clear $16MM of the $24MM Hicks was owed over the next two seasons off their books. The move lowers their current luxury tax payroll to $258MM according to RosterResource, just below the $264MM marker that represents the second threshold of the luxury tax. There have been some indications dating back to the early parts of the offseason that Boston prefers to stay under that second threshold this winter, though trades for pricey veterans such as Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras in addition to the signing of Ranger Suarez had previously pushed them over that line. Trading away the bulk of Hicks’s salary has allowed them to sneak back under, though with the team still known to be looking for infield help it’s entirely possible that additional moves could change that positioning.

in order to get Hicks off the books, the Red Sox are parting ways with Sandlin. Sandlin was ranked as Boston’s #11 prospect by Baseball America headed into the 2026 campaign. The soon-to-be 25-year-old righty struggled in a 23 2/3 inning look at Triple-A last year, but pitched to an impressive 3.61 ERA across 17 outings (13 starts) at the Double-A level with a 25.4% strikeout rate. Sandlin’s viewed as a player with a chance to stick in a big league rotation who could’ve helped Boston’s bullpen as soon as this year, but now he’ll head to Chicago where he’ll have an easier chance to find a big league role in the short-term. Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, and Sean Newcomb currently stand as the team’s projected starters entering Spring Training, but Sandlin could join players like Jonathan Cannon, and fellow former Red Sox hurler Chris Murphy in standing as a primary depth option behind those players, with a chance to earn a job on the big league club out of camp this spring.

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The White Sox announced this afternoon that they’ve designated catcher Drew Romo and right-hander Jairo Iriarte for assignment. The moves make room for Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin on the club’s 40-man roster after Chicago acquired the pair from Boston earlier today.

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