As Randy Arozarena still adjusts to a new life with a new team 3,000 miles away from where he spent the last four seasons and offseasons, his former team — the Tampa Bay Rays — will visit Seattle for a three-game series at T-Mobile Park, starting Monday night. “It’s going to be a little weird, but we are just going to have go out there and try to beat them,” Arozarena said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. Over 41⁄2 seasons, he played in 568 regular-season games with the Rays, posting a .
255/.348/.441 slash line.
He won the American League Rookie of the Year in 2021 and was an All-Star in 2023. After defecting in 2015 from Cuba to Mexico, he later signed with the Cardinals and eventually made his debut in August 2019. Before the 2020 season, he was traded to Tampa Bay in a multiplayer deal.
He played in 23 games in the COVID-shortened season but became a postseason hero, helping lead the Rays to the World Series. He had four hits, including two doubles and an RBI in the AL wild-card series. In the ALDS vs.
the Yankees, he racked up eight hits in 19 at-bats, including three homers and three RBI. He was named the American League Championship Series MVP, going 9-for-28 with a double, four homers and six RBI. He also had eight hits and three more homers vs.
the Dodgers in the World Series. In 20 postseason games in 2020, he had 29 hits in 77 at-bats with three doubles, a triple, 10 homers and 14 RBI. So why did the Rays trade him to Seattle? Well, Arozarena was simpl.