ST. PETERSBURG -- On his last night at Tropicana Field, Randy Arozarena put the ¡°fan¡± in fan favorite.

Arozarena was obviously not on the field for the Rays as they hosted the Reds at Tropicana Field, having been traded to the Mariners early Friday morning, but he wasn't far from it. And where else would he be but the left-field seats once named ¡°Randy Land¡± in his honor?

Rays manager Kevin Cash thought it might have been one last gift from Arozarena to his many fans.

¡°I just gave him a big hug a minute ago,¡± Cash said postgame. ¡°Randy -- want him to go and enjoy the new team, but maybe that¡¯s a nice thing that he did, to go see a bunch of his fans out in left field.¡±

It was only a matter of time before the TV cameras spotted Arozarena, who was with his family in the stands. And Rays outfielder Josh Lowe, who didn¡¯t start Friday¡¯s game, spotted his former teammate on the broadcast.

Left fielder Jonny DeLuca said he didn¡¯t see Arozarena. Neither did center fielder Jose Siri. But they eventually heard he¡¯d made his way out to the ballpark, fittingly finding a spot in the area that would have been full of fans wearing Arozarena-themed t-shirts and gear ¡­ if he hadn¡¯t been traded the night before.

¡°I didn¡¯t know. The fans were a little bit more rowdy, so that probably should have told me,¡± DeLuca said. ¡°That¡¯s pretty funny.¡±

Funny is one way to put it. Calling the game on Bally Sports Sun, Brian Anderson had another description.

"OK, that's weird," Anderson said on the Rays' television broadcast. "Seeing Zach Eflin [who was traded to Baltimore on Friday] in an Orioles uniform was weird.

"This is next-level weird."

It has to be difficult for a player to leave the franchise with which he became a star and created so many memorable moments. And Arozarena was responsible for plenty during his five seasons with Tampa Bay, emerging as an All-Star and the club¡¯s most popular player.

The Rays will never forget his record-setting postseason in 2020, when he launched 10 home runs to help fuel a run that ended in the World Series. Nor his American League Rookie of the Year Award-winning follow-up campaign in 2021.

And we'll never forget his signature cowboy boots from that October, or him signing autographs during games, along with the many other ways in which he endeared himself to local fans and the baseball world.

Those are memorable highlights from the past, but now Arozarena will look to help the Mariners make a postseason push in Seattle as he begins the next chapter of his career.

Still, on Friday, he wanted to be inside Tropicana Field pulling for the home team one more time.

¡°There's no denying the importance he's had in this organization for the last five years. He carried us [in] 2020. And we all know what he's given our fans,¡± Cash said. ¡°It¡¯s a lot of highlights, a lot of big hits, a lot of smiles, a lot of crossed arms. So nothing but the best for him and wish him well.¡±