Rays Trade Former AL ROY Randy Arozarena to Mariners

Rays Trade Former Rookie of the Year, Randy Arozarena, to Mariners

Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images

July 26, 2024

The Tampa Bay Rays agreed to trade former AL Rookie of the Year and 2023 All-Star Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners late Thursday.

Arozarena earned a hefty pay raise in the offseason, almost double his salary from 2023. In fact, Arozarena is the recipient of large pay increases over the past two offseasons. His salary in 2022 was $716,600, one season after earning Rookie of the Year honors. This was his pre-arbitration salary. Arozarena posted a slash line of .263/.327/.445 with an OPS of .773, OPS+ of 123, 20 homers, 89 RBI, and he swiped 32 bags in that season, a deal for the Rays at that price. He entered arbitration after the season, ultimately signing for a pay increase of $3.4 million for a total of $4.15 million for 2023. Arozarena responded with his first All-Star nod.

Randy Arozarena’s 2023 slash line was similar to that of 2022. His line was .254/.364/.425 with an OPS of .789, OPS+ of 121, 23 home runs, 83 RBI, and he stole 22 bases. His strikeout total was the same in both seasons (156), but he added 34 walks to 2022’s total in 2023. He again entered arbitration and this time avoided it by signing for a raise of almost $4 million for a total of $8.1 million for 2024. With two seasons of arbitration eligibility left, the Rays decided to trade Arozarena to the Mariners. But this trade cannot all be about salary for the low-budget Rays.

Arozarena’s Hard-Hit Percentage Drops in 2024

Arozarena is in the midst of a down year in 2024. The 29-year-old outfielder is down 41 points in average (.213), 45 points in on-base percentage (.319), and 82 points in slugging percentage (.398). His OPS (.717) and OPS+ (106) are the lowest of his career. While he has 15 homers, his RBI total is a lackluster 36. He is stealing bases, however, with 16 on the season. Additionally, he currently has about the same amount of walks (45) that he had in all of 2022 (46).

But what’s really come back down to Earth for Arozarena is his hard-hit percentage. In his six seasons in the majors, Arozarena’s career hard-hit percentage is 43.8%. But there is a blip on the radar that’s easily noticed when reading this statistic. That blip comes in 2023 when Arozarena threw up an amazing hard-hit percentage of 48.4%. At the same time, his pull percentage rose almost two percent from 2022-23 (from 28.3% to 31.7%). Additionally, he was hitting the ball in the air more frequently in 2023 (25.3% flyballs) than in 2022 (19.7% flyballs).

The Slide Continues for Arozarena

This pattern has mostly continued. In 2024, Arozarena is hitting the ball in the air (27.7% flyballs) more than in 2023 (25.3% flyballs). His pull rate has gone up in each of the past three seasons and now sits at 31.7%. The main issue for Arozarena in 2024 may be, however, that his hard-hit percentage that was out of this world in 2023 (48.4%) is now closer to his career mark, currently sitting at 42.3%. That’s six whole percentage points lower. Couple that with more flyballs, a higher strikeout rate, more balls hit to left field as opposed to scattered, and a lower walk rate and it’s safe to say he’s at least had an off year, if not regressed some. But, there is something that shows that Arozarena may be having a bit of bad luck as well.

Arozarena’s batting average on balls in play is down 58 points in 2024 from what it was in 2023. In 2023, his batting average on balls in play was .310. In 2024, his batting average on balls in play is .252, which is the lowest of his career. His career mark is .318. This shows that he is indeed having a bit of bad luck. Sometimes a new team is all a player needs to turn things around, whether bad luck or not. The Mariners have a young team with great talent that Arozarena should have no trouble fitting in with.

Rays Acquire Young Talent, Mariners Acquire Veteran and Clutch Performer Randy Arozarena in Trade

The Mariners are sending two of its talented young players to Tampa Bay along with a player to be named later. Aiden Smith is a fourth-round pick of the 2023 draft out of Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas. The 20-year-old outfielder is the Mariners number 12 prospect. Smith is in Single-A slashing .284/.402/.470 in 296 at-bats. That’s good enough for an OPS of .872. He has nine home runs, 42 RBI, and 63 runs. He also has 28 stolen bases in 33 attempts.

The second player the Mariners are sending to Tampa Bay is 22-year-old right-hander Brody Hopkins. Hopkins is also from the 2023 draft, 187th overall, and his big brother TJ Hopkins is in the San Francisco Giants organization. The 6’4″, 200lb hurler is also in Single-A. This season, he has a 2.90 ERA, 1.219 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, and a microscopic HR/9 rate of 0.2 in 83 2/3 innings. Hopkins has allowed two home runs all season, fewer than the five homers allowed in his 54 innings combined in college (College of Charleston and Winthrop University).

In short, the Rays are set to acquire a young right-hander and a young outfielder, both of whom are performing well in their first professional season, along with a player to be named later. The Mariners are set to acquire a former All-Star, Rookie of the Year recipient, and a player who has been known to be a clutch performer in Randy Arozarena. Time will tell whether or not this trade works out for either team, but both teams should be happy with this deal at the moment.