The Seattle Mariners have been on the cusp of contention for a few years now but have been unable to break through. The team has posted win totals of 88, 90, and 90 games, respectively, over the last three seasons, with just one playoff appearance to show for it. The Mariners had another strong start in 2024 and carried a seemingly impenetrable 10-game lead at the top of the AL West in the middle of June.
But Seattle has gone just 13-22 since then, putting the club in a stressful position at the MLB trade deadline. Per usual, the Mariners were busy in the trade market, adding Randy Arozarena, Justin Turner, and Yimi Garcia to strengthen the team for the playoff push.
Randy Arozarena is the headlining acquisition among this group. He earned his first All-Star Game berth last season and posted his third 20-20 (HR and SB) campaign. Arozarena was one of the biggest names involved in a deadline deal, but will he make an impact on his new team? Why the Randy Arozarena trade will not bring the playoff success the Mariners are hoping for:
Another swing-and-miss hitter in a high-strikeout lineup
After finishing with the second-most strikeouts in MLB last season, the Mariners looked to become a more patient team at the plate in 2024. The club moved on from Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez — who finished second and third, respectively, in Major League Baseball in strikeouts in 2023.
Yet those changes have had the opposite effect. Seattle still leads the Majors in strikeouts this year, is tied for last in batting average, and 28th in runs scored per game. To alleviate these offensive struggles, the club acquired Justin Turner and Randy Arozarena at the MLB trade deadline. Turner had a strong .349 OBP with the Toronto Blue Jays this year and ranks in the 91st percentile in whiff rate among qualified MLB hitters.
Arozarena is a talented hitter with a valuable combination of power and speed, but he falls into the category of hitters that Seattle was trying to avoid this season. The 29-year-old ranks in the 16th percentile in whiff rate and the 31st percentile in strikeout rate while hitting just .217 on the year. Among qualified hitters in the Mariners lineup, Julio Rodriguez (.263 batting average) is the only player with a batting average above .245.
The Mariners have plenty of players who can hit for power; adding another all-or-nothing hitter to this strikeout-prone Seattle lineup is not the solution.
Arozarena's playoff success does not matter if Seattle misses out on the postseason
While Randy Arozarena is a big deadline acquisition for the Mariners. Much of his value is a product of his playoff performances. In 33 career playoff games, Arozarena has batted .336 with 11 homers and a 1.104 OPS. His success is not limited to his historic 2020 playoff run, as the Cuban outfielder has an OPS of .816 over his last three playoff series, with hits in seven of eight games during this stretch. Both marks are well above his career regular-season OPS of .788.
But what use is an elite playoff performer if the Seattle Mariners cannot reach the postseason in the first place? After being as many as 13 games above .500 with a 10-game lead atop the AL West, Seattle is currently 57-53, narrowly trailing the first-place Houston Astros, who sit at 56-52. The Mariners are also 3.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race, making winning the division paramount.
While the Mariners have averaged 89.3 wins over the last three seasons, the club has reached the playoffs just once over the last 22 seasons. Can a player batting .217 help the club overcome that playoff hump? Seattle must make the postseason before it can worry about how its players will perform in October.
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