In the early morning hours on Friday the Tampa Bay Rays traded one of their best players, outfielder Randy Arozarena, to the Seattle Mariners for two prospects.
On Friday night, Arozarena spent a few innings in the stands watching his former teammates play the Cincinnati Reds before officially saying goodbye to Tampa and its fans.
That is not the type of thing you typically see happen in pro sports, because there is usually a rush on getting the player to their new team as quickly as possible. Arozarena, however, seemed to want to savor a little more time in Tampa before moving on to his new teammates in Seattle.
Arozarena spent the past four-and-a-half years with the Rays and developed into an outstanding starter in their outfield. He hit at least 20 home runs in each of the past three seasons and is on pace to top that mark again this season with 15 home runs in his first 100 games.
He will give the Mariners a much-needed bat in their lineup as they try to win the American League West. As for the Rays, it started a pre-trade deadline sell-off that continued on Friday afternoon with starting pitcher Zach Eflin being traded to the Baltimore Orioles.
As for Arozarena’s new team, the Mariners jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the first inning of their game against the Chicago White Sox.