The Rays have moved perhaps their most valuable bat in advance of the Major League Baseball trade deadline on July 31, trading outfielder Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has sources confirming the original report from Caribbean journalist Francys Romero.
Source confirms: Mariners have acquired Randy Arozarena.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 26, 2024
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Rays will receive minor-league outfielder Aidan Smith and minor-league pitcher Brody Hopkins, plus a player to be named later.
#Rays get minor-leaguers OF Aidan Smith and RHP Brody Hopkins plus a PTBNL from #Mariners for Arozarena
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 26, 2024
Arozarena was acquired by the Rays from the St. Louis Cardinals on January 9, 2020 along with first baseman Jose Martinez in exchange for left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore. He finishes his tenure with the Rays with 587 games played, 85 home runs, and 289 runs batted in. He was also the most valuable player in the 2020 American League Championship Series and won the American League Rookie of the Year in 2021.
Smith is a 19-year-old outfielder who can play all three positions. He was taken in the fourth round of last year’s draft by the Mariners out of Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas. This year in 77 games with Low-A Modesto, he is hitting .284/.402/.470 with nine home runs, 42 RBI, and 28 stolen bases in 33 attempts.
Hopkins is a 22-year-old right-hander, taken in the sixth round of the 2023 draft by the Mariners out of Winthrop University. Playing this year in Low-A Modesto, he is 4-3 with a 2.90 earned run average in 18 starts, striking out 95 batters in 83.2 innings pitched.
Both Smith and Hopkins can be expected to report to the Charleston Riverdogs, the Rays Low-A minor-league affiliate.
The team has not confirmed the deal.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
