The only 3 Randy Arozarena trades worth Mariners' time as 2026 season crumbles

The Seattle Mariners have lost 16 out of their last 20 games, and have fallen to a season-high-tying five games below .500. It's not the best look two days out from the MLB trade deadline. In fact, it's time to stop beating around the bush and start talking Randy Arozarena trades.

Because he's a pending free agent, a trade of the 31-year-old left fielder was always a possibility if things went awry this year. Yet any deal that sends him out of the Pacific Northwest need not be part of an aggressive teardown. It's not like the Mariners are in dire need of prospects. And besides, moving Arozarena could potentially make the current team better.

It sounds wild, considering that Arozerena has been the team's most consistent player to the tune of a 137 OPS+ and 3.5 rWAR. However, he's also been the center of gravity for separate tense moments (i.e., Cal Raleigh and Luis Castillo) with teammates this year.

If the Mariners trade Randy Arozarena, it should be for the sake of adding to the bullpen

Presumably, subtracting Arozarena would mean subsequently adding top prospect Michael Arroyo to his spot in left field. And that's just one reason moving Arozarena for a right-handed bat wouldn't make a ton of sense. The other is that swapping a righty hitter for another righty hitter is a "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!" proposal.

As such, the following trade scenarios are meant to address the Mariners' other major need for a shutdown reliever.

1. To the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Orion Kerkering

He took some heat for it, but Bryce Harper isn't wrong that the Phillies need help in their lineup. And on paper, they're an ideal fit for an Arozarena. They rank 28th in rWAR from left field and 29th in wRC+ from right-handed hitters.

Could the Mariners actually get Kerkering in return for Arozarena? It's a reach. He's a 25-year-old who's under club control through 2029 and, oh yeah, kind of an important part of Philly's current bullpen.

But for Jerry Dipoto, the righty is worth coveting anyway. The Mariners are the right organization to teach Kerkering how to throw strikes, and that would promise to fully unlock his stuff. He has a 97.5 mph four-seamer and a sweeper that's holding hitters to a .139 average.

2. To the Boston Red Sox for RHP Garrett Whitlock

The Red Sox went and got the right-handed hitter they needed, but then he broke his wrist in his second at-bat with the team. A righty bat is therefore back on the shopping list, and they happen to have a good opening for Arozarena in left field.

It crossed our minds to pitch an Arozarena-for-Jarren Duran swap, but… nah. Duran is plenty talented and definitely a change of scenery candidate, but his whole vibe right now deserves the widest berth possible.

Instead, surely Boston can spare Whitlock from a bullpen with a 2.97 ERA, no? The Red Sox might agree on the "no" there, but this is another case where Dipoto would be right to covet the 30-year-old righty. Whitlock has club options that pay out just $18.75 million through 2028, a plenty reasonable sum for a guy with a 145 ERA+ and 4.7 K/BB ratio for his career.

3. To the San Diego Padres for LHP Adrian Morejon

Could Arozarena work as part of a trade package for Mason Miller? It's conceivable, but only if he was accompanied by a starter and multiple prospects. And, for that matter, only if the Padres are willing to deal MLB's best closer at a moment when they have momentum in the NL wild-card race.

It's an unlikely scenario, in other words, but an Arozarena-for-Morejon swap would be a fun challenge trade. Morejon is likewise set for free agency, and thus arguably worth sacrificing for Arozarena as a means to fix a left field spot that has produced just 0.3 rWAR for San Diego.

Though the 27-year-old Morejon is having something resembling a down year, certain metrics still characterize the 2025 All-Star as one of MLB's elite relievers. He would pair nicely with Andrés Muñoz in Seattle's bullpen. And if Arroyo hit the ground running while Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor finally found their strokes, the gambit could actually pay off for the Mariners.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow