Randy Arozarena Traded! Who Are Brody Hopkins & Aidan Smith?

The Rays traded Randy Arozarena to the Mariners late last night/early this morning for Brody Hopkins, Aidan Smith, and a Player-to-be-Named-Later.

What are the Rays losing?

Randy Arozarena, although off to a slow start early this year, carried an .892 OPS in June and sports a .914 OPS in July. Randy’s early struggles likely resulted due to a plate discipline adjustment and a focus in pulling fly balls.

Randy’s fielding isn’t that great: this year with Savant valuing his defense at -3 OAA and his arm at a -2 Run Value.

However, Arozarena has a multitude of seeming intangibles that the Rays value highly: he’s a clubhouse leader, an X-factor in the playoffs, and, most importantly, a fan favorite. Randy Arozarena often represents the Rays at their best, and the team, fans, and organization will miss him dearly.

What are the Rays getting in return?

The Rays gained two extremely valuable, highly-touted players from the Mariners (and soon a third player).

RHP Brody Hopkins

Hopkins is the real deal. The Mariners drafted him in the 6th round of the 2023 draft. He’s a low-slot supinator who throws from a 5 ft release and has 6 distinct pitch shapes. All of his pitch shapes are above average in terms of stuff, but some quick highlights are his FF (96 mph, 14 iVB,12 HB), his SW (87 mph, -3 iVB, -13 HB), and his CU (87 mph, -7 iVB, -5 HB).

Hopkins need to get in-zone more often to make the most of his stuff as his current in-zone rate is sub 50%, however, this command issue could be Hopkins’ relative inexperience to pitching as he recently transitioned to pitching full-time as a Junior in college (170 IPs in 4 yrs). With more reps, Hopkins has the potential to be a valuable, front-end SP in the years to come.

OF Aidan Smith

The Mariners drafted Aidan Smith in the 4th round of the 2023 draft. Smith has loud tools in his power and run tool. He has some swing-and-miss issues, but his ability to play CF everyday shows his potential value. Aidan Smith turned 20 recently and performed well a High-A this year with a .872 OPS and .402 OBP. Smith also draws comps to Boston’s Roman Anthony as an athletic OF with multiple plus tools and a chance to break out.

The last piece of the trade is the PTBNL or Player-to-be-Named-Later. I think that the PTBNL is this case will most likely be one of the many high-stuff Mariners’ RPs but could range from a Cole Phillips type of higher-upside SP to a Blas Castano (sinkerballer, low-slot guy).

Here are a couple of names for PTBNLs: Cole Phillips, Ruddy Navarro, Cade Marlowe, Ty Cummings, and Blas Castano.