The preseason is officially over, but the Seattle Mariners, if you haven’t heard, lost by a football score last Sunday afternoon, going down to the Chicago Cubs by a score of 19-2 (which is a scoragami for those counting home). Which would be bad enough…but this happened a few days after they lost 22-0 to the National League-leading Milwaukee Brewers. They showed some signs of life, taking a weekday series against the Philadelphia Phillies, but were just swept this weekend in a rematch of last year’s American League Championship Series with the Toronto Blue Jays. What was once one of the best lineups and rotations in the sport has done the dreaded r word: regressed and hard.
Star backstop Cal Raleigh is kinda turning it around after a horrific start, but he’s batting well below the Mendoza line and is having one of the worst follow-up years to a second-place MVP finish in league history. Post-season hero Josh Naylor has fallen off a cliff. Supporting players like Victor Robles, J.P. Crawford and Luke Raley haven’t given the club the boost to get out of the mire that is the AL Playoff chase.
Julio Rodriguez, face of the franchise, hasn’t gone nuclear like he typically does later in the season, but he did forget how many outs there were against the Brew Crew. Infielder Cole Young has shown flashes this season, but the grind of 162 games in 180 days in his first full year has taken its toll in the second half.
The rotation and bullpen have taken a step back, former starters are losing their spot due to ineffectiveness, and while top-ranked, they’re relying on rookies to put them over the edge. It’s about as bad as it can be for a team that, as of this writing, is nine games under .500–but only 5 games back from the division and 3 games back of the third wildcard spot with a month left in the regular season.
But despite all that, outfielder Randy Arozarena is doing all he can to put the M’s back into the dance. The former AL Rookie of the Year is having a phenomenal year, slashing .268/.367/.453 for an .820 OPS, his career high in a full season (he had a 1.022 in 64 plate appearances in Covid-shortened 2020 and an absurd 1.273 during his historic postseason run). His Wins Above Replacement is 4.2, matching his dynamic 2021 AL Rookie of the Year season.
What makes this season even more impressive is how Arozarena has transformed his approach. He isn’t just relying on raw talent or killer bat speed; he has developed into a highly disciplined, elite plate presence. This is clear in his advanced metrics, highlighted by a career-best 141 wRC+, meaning he is performing 41 percent better than the league-average hitter. A major driver of this growth is his above-average 10.1% walk rate, which has pushed his on-base percentage to an elite .367 mark. In a Mariners lineup that has spent the year plagued by high strikeout rates and a failure to sustain rallies, Randy’s ability to work deep counts and get on base is exactly the stabilizing force this offense desperately needs.
Alternately, his defense in left field isn’t something to write home about. He’s currently in the bottom 10th percentile in Outs Above Average (OAA), translating to a -8 Fielding Run Value (FRV). His biggest issue stems from his initial jump; at the 12th percentile, he isn’t showing the burst a player with six straight 20-20 seasons possesses. Combined with bad routes to fly balls, it makes him a liability, particularly on plays to his left or when he has to backpedal towards the wall. While he has a decent arm, totaling five outfield assists this season, his range, or lack thereof, does hurt the outfield and team defense overall.
The lone All-Star in Seattle this season, his heroics have literally saved the day for baseball’s lovable losers. The Cuban/Mexican native has solidified a position that was a revolving door for almost a decade (do yourself a favor and look at the names that were starting in left field from 2015 to 2024; a lot of “oh yeah, I forgot he played for the Mariners”) and put up elite production in his time in the Pacific Northwest. He’s in the last year of arbitration, which begs the question: why hasn’t there been an extension yet?
He’s making about 15.6 million this year, which at his WAR is a steal, considering clubs pay about 9 million per win in free agency. He’s loved in the clubhouse, and proved not only can he hit in the most pitcher-friendly park in the Majors, but he lives for the big moment.
In this writer’s opinion, re-signing him must be John Stanton and Jerry Dipoto’s top priority this offseason. The Mariners’ payroll situation has always been a point of contention for us fans, but letting a premier run producer walk would be a catastrophic mistake. With a potential MLB lockout threatening the 2027 season, security and roster stability take center stage. Teams cannot afford to enter a period of labor uncertainty with massive, unaddressed gaps in their core roster.
Arozarena fits perfectly into Seattle’s long-term composition. He’s 31, so he should have a few good years left, but if he loses another step defensively, he could easily slide into the designated hitter spot. Taylor Ward has been a disaster since coming to T-Mobile, so it seems he’ll be a true two-month rental. Which would mean both outfield corners could need new blood. Newly promoted slugger Lazaro Montes figures to contend for right field, but who would man the seven that’s better? Keep in mind, this penny-pinching club doesn’t really sign splash-free agents, especially hitters.
But the best thing he brings to the table isn’t his bat or his glove–it’s his attitude. Randy is a little like a Fernando Tatis Jr., a swaggy, fiery competitor who plays with infectious passion. He’s a certified vibes guy, and since reacquiring and then letting third baseman Eugenio Suarez go this past winter, this middling ball club hasn’t had good ones since, like May.
Coupled with a sterling postseason pedigree, Arozarena balances this roster that expects young players like right-hander Kade Anderson, shortstop-of-the-future Colt Emerson, and Young to help them contend for their first American League pennant, not just this year, but for the next five. If the Mariners want to turn their current regression back into a championship window, they need to open the checkbook and keep Randy in Seattle.
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