After post-trade transition, Randy has 'great vibes' with Mariners
Daniel Kramer
@DKramer_PEORIA, Ariz. -- The hairdo was the talk of Mariners camp when Randy Arozarena arrived last week, so much so that fellow outfielders Julio Rodr¨ªguez and Victor Robles joined in.
Arozarena is rocking frosty blond, while Rodr¨ªguez and Robles dyed theirs in an orange shade, creating a collective look that exudes an aura of confidence from a trio that the Mariners believe can be one of the American League¡¯s most dynamic.
¡°These guys are guys that play with a lot of emotion, a lot of love for the game, and that kind of helped me get adjusted to [playing here],¡± Arozarena said through an interpreter. ¡°And these are guys, they're teammates, and we talk with each other no matter what the situation is in the game, so that communication is always there. They¡¯re a fun group to play with.
¡°We like to goof around. ... You can tell that there are some great vibes, and that¡¯s because we¡¯ve really become great friends.¡±
Spring Training is about creating fun within the six-week grind, but this specific gesture went a long way in making Arozarena feel all the more at home as he enters his first full season in Seattle.
Acquired in a high-profile Trade Deadline deal last summer, Arozarena admittedly faced a challenging transition at first. He¡¯d spent almost his entire career with the Rays over parts of five seasons, he makes his offseason home in the Tampa area and Seattle is the farthest destination from there on the MLB circuit.
It didn¡¯t necessarily correlate to performance, as Arozarena slashed .231/.356/.377 (.733 OPS) with five homers, 14 doubles and 23 RBIs in 54 games with the Mariners, good for 1.0 wins above replacement per Baseball-Reference and a 118 OPS+ (league average is 100).
But there was still an adjustment period.
¡°It was a big change for me,¡± Arozarena said.
No moment was more encapsulating to Arozarena feeling support from his new teammates than last Sept. 15, when he was hit by a pitch from Rangers reliever Gerson Garabito and the benches nearly cleared. In his prior at-bat, Arozarena crushed a massive homer -- which achieved a 20/20 season -- then thrust his bat down the first-base line in celebration before taking an extended trot around the bases, evoking words from Texas catcher Jonah Heim.
Yet as the Mariners dugout jumped to the top step, prepared to defend Arozarena, the slugger held up his hands in a halting gesture to calm tempers.
¡°It meant a lot,¡± Arozarena said. ¡°I mean, especially having your teammates getting ready out there to stand up for you, it was big for me. And especially for me, just being able to reciprocate, show them the same love, but having them demonstrate to me [their support] at that moment, it was pretty important.¡±
By season¡¯s end, Arozarena said he felt much more at home in Seattle -- a sentiment he¡¯s echoed this spring.
He¡¯s been hanging with Rodr¨ªguez and Robles regularly away from the ballpark and is part of many Mariners marketing promotions for the upcoming season. And the club hopes Arozarena could be a boon to an offense that didn¡¯t see many external additions within a quiet offseason.
Arozarena is seeking his fifth straight 20/20 season, and with the way the Mariners intend to play -- particularly with more aggression on the basepaths -- it remains a pointed personal goal. Last year was also his first in which he didn¡¯t play in the postseason, eliciting the feeling of missing out on a stage where he¡¯s authored some of MLB¡¯s most epic moments of recent memory.
¡°You can tell they really want to win, they really want to fight, and they want to get back into the playoffs,¡± Arozarena said.
When the Mariners acquired Arozarena, they did so knowing that he could be around for a while. He¡¯s earning $11.3 million this season and has one more year of arbitration eligibility before reaching free agency in 2027.
If this is home until then, he appears to have found his footing.