Mariners making moves

The Seattle Mariners, who have batted a putrid .219 on the season, have begun to make some moves. Yesterday, the Mariners acquired outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor leaguers Aiden Smith (the team's number 12 prospect according to Baseball America), an outfielder and right-handed pitcher Brody Hopkins (number 29).

"We need to start solving our problems," Mariner general manager Justin Hollander told the Seattle Times last week and that was even before a horrendous 1-5 homestand against division rivals Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels.

The Mariners were swept by the Angels of Anaheim (minus Mike Trout), who are mired in fourth place. The M's who led the Astros by ten games in June, saw their lead disappear quicker than Joe Biden's presidential campaign and now trail Houston by a game in the standings.

Arozarena, a 29-year-old Cuban native, burst on the scene in 2020, when after playing 23 games in the regular season, he appeared in 20 playoff games smacking 10 home runs, driving in 14, stealing eight bases and compiling a .442 average. 

Arozarena won the American League Rookie-of-the-Year award the following season. Arozarena's currently playing on a one-year contract for $8,100,000.

“Randy is a dynamic, high-energy all-around player who has excelled in the biggest moments on the biggest stages,” Mariners GM Justin Hollander said in a statement. “He’s going to be a great addition to our clubhouse and lineup."

This season he started slowly. At the end of May he was batting a woeful .158 with a .297 slugging percentage, making him one of the ten worst hitters in baseball over that period. Since the beginning of June, he's hit a respectable .284, and on the season has 15 home runs, 37 runs batted in and 16 stolen bases.

Before leaving Tampa, Arozarena sat in the left-field stands last night with his family watching the first few innings of the Rays game with the Cincinnati Reds. That area has been called `Randy Land' in honor of the left-fielder and fans chanted `Randy, Randy,' as he left the ballpark.

Arozarena's biggest drawback may be that he's a right-handed hitter. According to STAT Cast, T-Mobile Park ranks last by a wide margin for right-handed batters (former Mariner and Home Run Derby champ, Teoscar Hernandez, endorses this message).

Arozarena joins a Mariner squad that ranks near the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category. Only the M's stellar pitching has kept them in the pennant race. How much of an effect one player can have on the offense remains to be seen,

The trade also comes at a time when the M's are missing two of their top players- Julio Rodriguez with an ankle injury and shortstop J.P. Crawford with a fractured finger. Both are on the 10-day injured list.

The Mariners also made two moves involving pitchers. Seattle traded one set-up man, Ryan Stanek, to the Mets and acquired another in Yimi Garcia from the Toronto Blue Jays. Garcia, formerly a closer with the Miami Marlins, has had an outstanding season north of the border - three wins, five saves, 2.70 ERA and an 0.80 WHIP.

Seattle acquired Garcia in exchange for outfielder Jonathan Clase, who hit .145 in 41 at-bats with the M's this season. The Mariners received Triple A outfielder Rylan Thomas in exchange for Stanek.

Seattle lost primary set-up man Gregory Santos with a knee injury on Thursday night. Santos, who was the Chicago White Sox closer the latter part of last season, has been plagued with injuries since being traded to the Mariners during spring training.

Both players are expected to join the Mariners this weekend in Chicago.

Baseball Prospectus on Randy Arozarena: Arozarena, Trea Turner and Jose Ramirez are the only players to achieve 20 home runs and 20 steals on each of the last three seasons. His batting average dipped slightly last season but his OBP popped up due to a career high in walks. He's settled in as a left-fielder, not making an error in 1,200 innings

Baseball Prospectus on Yimi Garcia: The right-handed reliever was actually better against righties than lefties- .686 vs. .739 OPS. While Garcia may not be the automatic set-it-up and forget reliever that fans dream about, he still put up above-average numbers and was 90th percentile in walks among relievers.