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September 6, 2012
Punk Hits
The Fall and Rise of Joaquin Arias
by Ian Miller
Prior to this year, if you’d heard of Joaquin Arias at all, you probably knew of him as “the guy the Rangers selected instead of Robinson Cano.” The story is practically cliché by now: the Rangers traded Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later. The list of PTBNLs consisted of five players, including Arias and Robinson Cano. Because he was two years younger and considered a better defender, the Rangers picked Arias over Cano.
Seven-and-a-half years later, Cano has won a Rookie of the Year award, a Gold Glove, three Silver Sluggers, and a Home Run Derby while posting a 30.9 WARP. Arias, meanwhile, sustained a shoulder injury in 2007 from which he’s never fully recovered and was eventually traded to the Mets for Jeff Franceour (cruel fate!). Released by the Mets, he was picked up by the Royals, and Arias spent the entire 2011 season in Triple-A Omaha, who designated him for assignment the following December. Thin up the middle, the San Francisco Giants signed him to a minor league deal for the 2012 season, and it wasn’t long before they needed him: Arias has been with the big club since late April, and while he hasn’t magically turned into Robinson Cano, he’s been far better than PECOTA predicted and pretty damn good for a guy who’s career should be over.
Injury
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4 comments have been left for this article. 
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Thanks for the history of Arias, who has been a godsend for the Giants this season, especially in August, when he hit .417 with a 1.154 OPS despite playing part-time and being limited to just 64 plate appearances.
One of the areas in which Arias helped out most was in playing third base while Pablo Sandoval was injured. Nowhere near the power hitter Sandoval is, Arias handled the position nicely despite having played just two major league games there previously.
Now I understand why he is such a nice fielder. He has that "look" about him in the field and has also been a very good base runner for the Giants.
Right now Arias is platooning with lefty-hitting Brandon Crawford at shortstop. Marco Scutaro has been hitting exceptionally well for the Giants since being acquired from the Rockies, but I suspect he will slow down a bit and yield a few starts to Arias.
There has even been talk about playing Arias in left field, although I suspect that would be only on a brief or emergency basis.
Arias has been a godsend for the Giants, especially in August.