The news that broke last night seems to be at least part of a much-needed boost for the Seattle Mariners’ offense.
The M’s acquired outfielder Randy Arozarena, an All-Star selection in 2023, from the Tampa Bay Rays to provide reinforcement for their struggling lineup. In exchange, Seattle sent prospects outfielder Aidan Smith, right-handed pitcher Brody Hopkins and a player to be named later to the Rays.
According to multiple to reports, the Mariners are still looking to add more before Tuesday’s trade deadline. But how exactly does the deal for Arozarena effect things going forward? Mike Salk and Brock Huard addressed that question Friday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“I do not expect the Mariners to be done,” Salk said. “I expect them to have more to deal and more to acquire over the course of the next four days.”
What needs remain?
It’s certainly no secret that only one bat isn’t going to fix the problems the Mariners’ offense has had this season, but Arozarena should certainly help fortify the a corner outfield spot, likely left field, which Seattle desperately needed to do.
On the surface, the slugging right-handed bat is having a down season with a .211/.318/.394 slash line, 19 doubles, 15 home runs, 37 RBIs, 101 strikeouts and 45 walks in 100 games. However, those numbers are dragged down by awful start. Arozarena has been among the hottest hitters in baseball over the past two months. Since June 1, he is hitting .284/.397/.507 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs. His 161 wRC+ ranks 19th and .903 OPS 26th among qualified hitters over that span.
He’s also under club control through the 2026 campaign.
“So how does this then also change what you need to do next?” Huard asked.
“I can still think of at least three things you need,” Salk responded. “You need an on-base percentage guy still. If Arozarena is going to provide impact, he’s not necessarily going to get on base at an insane rate, and you do still need to create more opportunities for yourself.”
Another position Salk highlighted was one that just recently became a need for the Mariners due to the four-to-six week timeframe given for the fractured pinky shortstop J.P. Crawford suffered Monday.
“That doesn’t need to be a star,” Salk said, “but I do think they’re going to need somebody who’s a professional shortstop, who can come in and play the position for the next two months until J.P. Crawford returns.”
While the lineup remains the focus of what the Mariners need, the bullpen could use a boost as well.
“I know that that’s not like the fun thing to talk about because obviously the offense is the biggest problem, but their relievers are dying on the vine right now other than Andrés Muñoz,” Salk said.
Can the Seattle Mariners make another splash?
At this point, it’s fair to call the trade for Arozarena the biggest splash of the trade deadline thus far. But Seattle has been linked to other big names like White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr., Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes and Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette, among others.
MLB.com’s Marc Feinstad also reported the Mariners as one of three potential landing spots in Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz.
Could they still take a swing at one of those standouts?
“I would think this would preclude you from an from a Luis Robert, yes,” Salk said. “Not just because of what you gave up, but because I don’t know that you’re gonna add another outfielder. It’s not impossible. Certainly you could build an outfield of three guys who could play center field – Julio, Arozarena and Luis Robert – but I would say there’s a lot of swing and miss, there’s a lot of just sort of volatility. It’s not impossible, but I would be … pretty shocked.”
Seattle didn’t have to dip into any of the top-10 prospects in their system, according to MLB Pipeline, to get Arozarena. Smith and Hopkins were on a path to breaking into that conversation, but there’s plenty of chips left in the Mariners’ farm system to go all-in with.
“I don’t think it precludes either Yandi Díaz or Isaac Paredes,” Salk said. “I don’t think it precludes some of the guys we’ve talked about who are more on-base percentage guys. I don’t think it means that Vlad is impossible or that Bichette is impossible. Again, I don’t know whether Toronto’s going to deal them, but from a Mariner perspective, I don’t think this should take any of those guys off the table. But my guess is this will be their biggest impact move and that the other moves they make – and I think they’ll make more – will be more about on-base percentage and contact. So in that way less impactful than the big impact move of getting a slugger like Arozarena.”