Needing a spark on offense, the Mariners acquired All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Rays on Thursday night.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.Two lower-level minor leaguers, outfielder Aidan Smith and right-hander Brody Hopkins, will go to the Rays in the trade, as will a player to be named later.
Arozarena is in the midst of a down year, batting .211/.318/.394 with 15 home runs and 16 stolen bases in his first 100 games. But he was arguably the most coveted outfielder in this year's trade market for his dynamic abilities and his propensity for elevating his play on the biggest stages, most notably during the 2020 American League Championship Series and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Arozarena, 29, won't be a free agent until after the 2026 season and has an $8.1 million salary this year. He is expected to be the first of several players traded away by the Rays, who are only a game above .500 in a hotly contested AL East and could also part with starter Hopkins was a two-way player in college who transitioned full time to pitching after going of last year's draft, posting a 2.90 ERA with 95 strikeouts and 40 walks in 83 2/3 innings in Class A this season. Smith, a fourth-round pick last year, was batting .284/.402/.470 with nine homers and 28 stolen bases in 77 games at the same level.
Arozarena, who will likely settle in as the Mariners' everyday left fielder, followed a stirring run through the 2020 postseason by winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2021. Two years later, he made his first All-Star team. From 2021 to 2023, Arozarena slashed .264/.349/.443 with 63 homers and 74 stolen bases, accumulating 10 FanGraphs wins above replacement.
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