A Well-Timed Hint Emerges: Mariners Insider Sheds Light on Randy Arozarena’s Status Before the Winter Meetings .MH

It’s not a topic that’s been boiling on the stove, but the idea of the Seattle Mariners trading Randy Arozarena this offseason is at least worth entertaining.

Arozarena, now a two-time All-Star, is heading into his final year of team control. He made $11.3 million this past season, which means he’s in line for something in the 15-plus range this year, and although he wouldn’t be easily replaced in left field, Mariners teams of the past might have moved him to try and add controllable pieces.

However, with the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings opening for business on Sunday night, one insider essentially shut down the idea of the Mariners trading Arozarena this offseason completely.

Would Mariners consider Arozarena trade under any circumstances?

On Sunday, MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer wrote that the Mariners did not appear to be entertaining any notions of trading Arozarena, and that the club seemed to be operating with more financial flexibility as an added bonus.

“(Arozarena) might’ve been an easy trade piece to speculate, especially within the context of how the front office operated in recent offseasons. But president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander aren’t dealing with those payroll-related constraints that saw them subtract costlier players and reallocate that money on others,” wrote Kramer.

“Arozarena is only a year away from free agency, is represented by Boras Corp and will be entering his age-32 season when he hits the open market for the first time. It’s hard to envision what next winter will look like for him — but at least for now, the Mariners love him.”

Right-handed power is one of the most valuable commodities on the trade market these days. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see a report at some point this offseason that the Mariners were at least entertaining the idea, much like the report from The Athletic this week about the Dodgers getting trade interest on Teoscar Hernández. That there’s been no report of the sort feels significant.

It’s still early in the offseason, so we wouldn’t be wise to completely close the door on any possibilities. But this bodes well on the whole for any Mariners fans hoping the team goes in true win-now mode, or at least Seattle’s most realistic version of it.