The Texas Rangers acquired Arias on 23 March 2004, completing a trade made 36 days earlier on 16 February that sent Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for Alfonso Soriano.[2] Among five Yankees prospects offered to the Rangers, Arias was selected over Robinson Canó because he was a more polished defender and two years younger.[1]
On 4 November 2010, Arias was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals,[5] but the Royals designated Arias for assignment on 19 December to make room on the 40-man roster for the prospects acquired in the Zack Greinke trade.[6]
The San Francisco Giants signed Arias to a minor league contract on 15 December 2011. After spending the 2012 Spring training with the Giants, he was assigned to Fresno Grizzlies, Giants' Triple-A affiliate, on 5 April. He played 18 games for the Grizzlies, hitting .400 with 2 home runs and 17 runs batted in (RBIs). The Giants called up Arias on 25 April.[7]
Arias hit his first major-league home run in his 331st career major-league at-bat on 22 May 2012. The two-run homer off Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Shaun Marcum gave San Francisco a 4–0 lead in the 4th inning of a game the Giants would go on to win by a score of 6–4.[8] On 13 June 2012, playing third base, Arias fielded a tricky grounder by Jason Castro, who was pinch-hitting for Xavier Cedeño. Arias, stumbling backwards as he gloved the ball, quickly threw the baseball to first base for the final out of Matt Cain's perfect game.[9][10][11] On 22 August 2012, he accumulated a single-game career high of five RBIs.[12] In total, Arias appeared in 112 games of the 2012 regular season, batting .270 with 5 home runs and 34 RBIs. He was also hit by pitches a team-high 5 times.[13]
The Giants finished the 2012 season as World Series Champions. During the postseason Arias appeared in 12 games, all of them as a mid- to late-inning replacement. On 10 October, during the Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Arias entered the game in the fourth inning and had two hits in three times at bat. Both hits were doubles, after both of which Arias eventually scored runs in a game the Giants won 8–3. Overall for the postseason, Arias went 3-for-8 (.375) with three runs scored.[14]
On 24 June 2013, Arias left a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning with a left hamstring injury after scoring from first base on a double by Andrés Torres.[15] The injury only sidelined Arias for a little over a week and he took the field for the Giants against the Cincinnati Reds on 3 July.[16] However, his return proved to be short-lived when he required an emergency appendectomy late on the night of 7 July. The following day the Giants placed him on the 15-day disabled list.[17] He was re-activated and returned to the team on 26 July.[18] Arias started 47 games, appeared in 102 games, batting .271 with 19 RBIs.[19]
On 23 January 2014, Arias and the Giants agreed on a two-year, $2.6-million contract.[19] Arias appeared in 107 games, batting .254 with 15 RBIs. In the 2014 postseason, Arias appeared in 8 games, batting 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored, as the Giants won the 2014 World Series over the Kansas City Royals.[20]
On 28 April 2015, Arias hit 3-for-3 off Clayton Kershaw, becoming the first Giant get three hits off Kershaw in one game.[21] Arias appeared in 40 games, batting .207, before being designated for assignment on 27 July.[22] Árias cleared waivers and was assigned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.[23]
