According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, prior to the trade between the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres that sent Luis Arraez to the Padres for four prospects, the Royals showed interest in him. Rosenthal was quick to point out that the talks were preliminary between the Royals and Marlins and that they did not advance very far.
It is interesting to hear that the Royals were interested this early in the offseason, but Luis Arraez is a bat that would make sense for this team, given the early results. As Preston pointed out on Twitter earlier today, Arraez is a complete 180 of most of the bats in the Royals lineup. He has insane batted-ball skills coupled with an incredible ability to get on base. According to Baseball Savant, he’s in the 97th percentile in Sweet-Spot%, 100th percentile in Whiff%, and 100th percentile in K%. He’s never had an OBP below .350 in his entire career.
The Padres did send a haul to acquire Arraez. They sent four prospects that were highlighted by outfielders Dillon Head and Jakob Marsee. Given the current state of the Royals farm, it’s likely they didn’t want to or have the package to pull together to make an equivalent offer, but it does show that they could be similar in a profile to Arraez in the near or distant future.
Given his current lack of defensive value, where Arraez would play is really up in the air. He can play 1B or 2B and has some experience in the outfield. With Vinnie Pasquantino locked in at first and Massey starting to get hot at second, it’s likely he would’ve taken a spot at DH. Given what the Royals have gotten from Nelson Velazquez at DH, Arraez would have likely been a welcome site.
Velazquez has really struggled at the plate sporting a 30.4% strikeout rate while slashing .215/.284/.344 with two home runs and a 78 wRC+. When you dive into the deeper data for Velazquez on Baseball Savant, it doesn’t get prettier. He’s in the 1st percentile in Whiff%, 31st percentile in Hard-Hit%, and 13th percentile in average exit velocity. Guys like Adam Frazier are filling in at the DH spot with him struggling. Having a guy like Arraez, who may not have the power but consistently gets on base, is what the Royals were missing.
We will likely get answers on Velazquez’s future sometime this month. I imagine that the Royals will give him a few more opportunities to turn things around, but the way guys like Nick Pratto, CJ Alexander, Drew Waters, and others are swinging it Omaha, they may be forced to make a change sooner rather than later. Especially given the hot and coldness of the offense so far this season. At some point the Royals will have to figure out what they need to do with guys struggling like Garrett Hampson, Nelson Velazquez, and Hunter Renfroe. The good news for the Royals is they’ve at least got one option left for Velazquez and if they decide to part with Hampson, they didn’t give him a ton of money in the first place.
The active offseason and the amount of money the Royals spent, coupled with the hot start to the season, let you know that they are definitely in win-now mode. The fact that they were even checking in on a guy like Arraez is a good sign, even if it didn’t come together. It means they are trying to find reinforcements for areas that they feel need some help. We all know that the farm system isn’t the strongest, but they still have guys that teams will be interested in. Now, what type of players can it net them in the future? That’s still to be determined.