Arozarena put up really good numbers in 2025, but he slumped down the stretch, so who is he moving forward?
Heading into 2026, the Seattle Mariners have four All-Stars in their starting lineup: Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena.
It's an excellent top-half that is also anchored by Josh Naylor, who signed a five-year contract with Seattle this offseason.
The rest of the lineup looks pretty good too, as there's a mix of power, contact and potential among spots 6-9. However, there is one question I have moving into the new campaign.
What exactly is Randy Arozarena moving forward?
On one hand, the soon-to-be 31 year old had a great 2025 year. He hit 27 homers and stole 31 bases.
On the other hand, he hit just .212 in 27 August games and .220 in 25 September and October contests. Hit hit only .174 in the American League Division Series and .200 in the American League Championship Series. He had just one postseason home run.
So, we ask again: What is Arozarena moving forward? Is he the guy from the first half of the season, or the guy from the last two months?
I talked more about this on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose' podcast:
"And now that he's over 30 years old, I just want to know who is Randy Arozarena moving forward? Is he a guy that comes back this year in a contract year and hits .260 and hits 28 home runs and steals 30 bags again? Or is he a guy who's getting older, who doesn't make as much contact, who strikes out a lot and he hits .238 again and he hits 18 home runs and he drives in 60?
...And I'll, I'll be frank. If Randy Arozarena regresses a little bit from last year, I think the Mariners can handle that, right? With Cal Raleigh, with Julio Rodriguez, with Josh Naylor, and with Brendan Donovan, I think the Mariners have, like, a pretty good kind of top 4 there in their lineup that you can count on. Four pretty reliable guys. I think Arozarena dropping back into a five or six spot in the order will also be very, very helpful for him and for the Mariners, right? While I called for him to be the leadoff hitter last year at the end of the year, I think that was the right move, he is not a leadoff hitter ultimately. Getting him back in a run producing position in the order I think is a very good thing and is a very necessary thing for the Mariners. So, I think that he will be able to provide the M's with some pop and will be able to provide them with some big moments offensively. But is he a guy, again, .265, 28/80, and 30 steals? Or is he .231, 18/62, and 19 steals? Still a good player, but will he have the kind of impact he had at times in 2025?"
What the experts are saying
We asked Buster Olney of ESPN about Arozarena on Thursday's 'Refuse to Lose' as well:
But when you look at his numbers, he had an adjusted OPS of 119, you know, the major league average hitter last year. If they were at 100, he was at 119. He had 60 extra0-base hits, and 31 stolen bases. I can't sit here with any confidence, tell you what kind of season he's going to have, but you just feel like he's one of those guys at the end of the year, there are going to be some good numbers on the board. He's a good player. It. It's just that, maybe, being in the same lineup as Cal, Julio Rodriguez, now Brendon Donovan, Josh Naylor, maybe you don't have as high expectations for those guys, but I think he demonstrated there's going to be periods of time when he's, as you say, he's going to be streaky and there's going to be some upside to that.
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