Randy

Arozarena

Arozarena is up to 19 homers on the year, and four of those have come in 37 games with the Mariners since the deadline deal. He also singled, but it’s still been a middling — at best — season with a slash of .221/.332/.396 over over 485 at-bats.

In Arozarena’s defense, the caught stealing on a 3-2 pitch should have been ball four, giving him the base. Still, it was foolish that he simply assumed that and didn’t run out the steal on what turned out to be a called strike three on a checked swing, allowing himself to be tagged while standing up. Arozarena is 20-for-29 stealing bases this year. 36 players have more steals than him, but only six have more caught stealings.

Arozarena went deep twice in the three-game series against his former club, blasting an eighth-inning solo shot off Rays reliever Tyler Alexander for his 18th round-tripper of the season. The 29-year-old fantasy standout is batting .242 (24-for-99) with three homers, 10 RBI and four steals in 28 games since coming over from Tampa Bay at last month’s trade deadline. It’s been a down year overall, but he’s still capable of the occasional monster performance, especially against familiar opponents.

Arozarena smashed an opposite-field homer in the third inning with a pair of runners on. The 29-year-old has his second homer as a member of the Mariners, his first homer with Seattle in his home park, and his first against his former club. It’s been a very up and down season for Arozarena, but maybe this gets him going again.

Arozarena has now doubled 22 times on the season. He came around to score both times on the two-baggers. Since joining Seattle just before the deadline, Arozarena is slashing .333/.455/.556 with a homer and three doubles.

It was a 14-3 game when Arozarena was lifted, so it was unclear if the collision had anything to do with it. Arozarena didn’t get too banged up, fortunately, and it sounds like he’ll play Tuesday. The 29-year-old connected for his first round-tripper in a Seattle uniform against a familiar foe in Nick Pivetta during the sixth inning of the one-sided affair. He’s off to an extremely hot start for the Mariners with five hits in 11 at-bats over three games since last week’s trade from the Rays.

Arozarena didn’t make it to Chicago in time to join the Mariners for the first game of their series against the White Sox on Friday, so he caught the Rays’ game as a fan in the stands instead. The dynamic 29-year-old outfielder has been swinging a hot bat for the past month now but is still slashing just .211/.318/.394 on the season to go along with 15 homers, 37 RBI and 16 stolen bases. He’ll need to help carry the Mariners’ offense with Julio Rodriguez (ankle) on the injured list.

It’s unclear if the dynamic 29-year-old outfielder has made it to join the Mariners yet, or if the M’s simply wanted to ease their new addition into action. Expect him to make his first start as a member of the Mariners on Saturday.

The deal is now official. The main takeaway here is that the Mariners managed to fill one of their biggest needs without dipping too deep into their glut of impact prospects. It’s been a down year offensively for Arozarena, but he’s been an offensive force with three consecutive 20h-homer, 20-steal campaigns for Tampa Bay since 2021. The 29-year-old figures to take over at Seattle’s primary left fielder and provides an immediate boost to their injury-depleted lineup.

That definitely solves one issue with Seattle’s lineup. Arozarena will presumably play left field in Seattle, resulting in more time at first base and DH for Luke Raley. It’s not great for his fantasy value, as he’s going from a poor park from hitters to perhaps the worst in the game, but neither does it figure to be a disaster. Smith, the Mariners’ fourth-round pick last year, has upped his stock by hitting .284/.402/.470 as a 18-year-old in high-A ball this season. He’s a couple of years away, but he has a chance to become a quality outfielder. We assume the PTBN will also be a significant prospect. The Rays could call up Kameron Misner to help out in the outfield against righties with Arozarena gone.