Luis Arraez

Arraez grew up in San Felipe, Venezuela, where his father drove a bus for 11 hours a day, then came home and had Luis practice by hitting a ball tied to a mango tree — and made him switch to hitting left-handed. As a teenager, a scout told him the Twins didn't have the money to sign him; Arraez told his mother he wanted to quit baseball for school, but the scout fought for him anyway and got him a $40,000 contract. Three MLB batting titles later, his parents finally got to watch him play in person in the majors, flying from Venezuela through Colombia just to get a visa — 'we're finally making it and we're here together,' his mother said. Arraez signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the Giants for 2026 and, despite trade-deadline rumors, has said he'd 'love to come back' on a longer deal.