The Rays have acquired right-hander Ty Cummings from the Mariners as the player to be named later in the July trade that send outfielder Randy Arozarena to Seattle, per announcements from both clubs. The righty wasn’t on Seattle’s 40-man roster and won’t need to be added to Tampa’s.
The Mariners were leading the American League West for much of the first half of 2024 but were fading in the summer as their offense disappeared. They attempted to revive their lineup at the deadline by acquiring Justin Turner from the Blue Jays and Arozarena from the Rays. In the deal with Tampa, the M’s parted with prospects Aidan Smith, Brody Hopkins and a player to be named later, who has now been revealed as Cummings.
Both Turner and Arozarena hit well for the M’s but the club still fell shy of the postseason. They still have a chance to recoup some value on the Arozarena deal going forward as he can be retained for two more seasons. He made $8.1MM in 2024 and will be due two more raises in the forthcoming campaigns. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a salary of $11.7MM in 2025.
Cummings, 23 next month, was selected by the Mariners in the seventh round of the 2023 draft. Taken out of Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, he signed for a $225K bonus. He made his professional debut this year, making 25 starts for High-A Everett. In his 116 2/3 innings for the AquaSox, he allowed 4.17 earned runs per nine. He struck out 24.7% of batters faced, walked 9.2% of them and got opponents to hit the ball on the ground at a 50.3% clip.
Back in July, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs published his list of the top 34 prospects in the Mariners’ system. Cummings wasn’t one of those 34 but got an honorable mention as Longenhagen described him as a potential depth starter.
BuddyBoy
I really felt like he was gonna be that TBD guy. He’s a good prospect and the Rays will continue his development
FletcherFan
Was really hoping my O’s could buy low on him…
stymeedone
I really thought it was gonna be that other guy.
cr4
At the time this trade looked horrible but it has aged quite well in the small sample size. Randy struggled and Aidan Smith has shown serious top 100 potential since coming over.
kc38
The trade is only 2 months old… anyone who was paying attention knew it wasn’t horrible
bkbk
Rays always gonna ray, its crazy
YourDreamGM
The worlds foremost baseball expert said this at the time.
“B for Tampa. About as good as they could do. I got Smith at 50 and plus. Want to move him to 55 so bad but need to see a bit more. 5 tool player. Good chance to stick in center and at worse is plus plus in a corner. Hopkins I have at 45 plus. All comes down to control. If he finds it he is a easy 50. Plenty of time to develop. Does have reliever risk but again lots of time. Good trade to reload the farm up.”
myaccount2
Arozarena didn’t struggle. He had a 118 wRC+ over the two months with Seattle.
Travis’ Wood
118 wRC+ with bad defense isn’t exactly killing it. He’s barely worth tendering a contract…. Most likely non tendered after 2025
alwaysgo4two
Arozarena hit about .223 in the 2 months with Seattle with 4 hrs and less than .400 slugging. Not my definition of a good trade.
Karensjer
Randy is a streaky hitter. He is going to flourish with Mottola not influencing his swing, and the pitchers the Rays got will just end up getting Tommy John from creating too much spin rate. All because $ternberg won’t pay players what they deserve. Sell the team!!!
case
I doubt there were many blue chip offers for a player whose performance was sliding downwards and was getting paid a lot through arbitration. I’m assuming they sold low because they were having an off year and the GM was instructed to offload the salary.
zoinksscoob91 2
Rumors were that it was going to be Johnny Farmelo as the PTBNL, which would have been a huge get for the Rays. Glad the M’s held onto him as they can probably use him to get another decent bat this winter.
BuddyBoy
No way that was the TBD guy at any point
Karensjer
I feel the Rays will have gotten fleeced in this one in a few years. They trade a power/speed guy who yeah, might be a streaky hitter, but is the face of the franchise and a 30/30 potential guy every year, and they can’t even get Hancock or Woo for him?!!
old elpaso
They normally DO the fleecing
Karensjer
I feel with some of the recent top front office guys leaving and pitchers blowing their arms out cause of overreliance on spin rate that the days of winning 75% of the trades are coming back to earth. Spend some money $ternberg!!!!
Rexhudler86
@oldpaso. They normally do plus they always flip for younger alternatives. Can’t believe the guy was suggesting woo or Hancock for someone that had a bad year and hit .219
Karensjer
Come back next year when Randy goes .275 Average, 35 HRs, 35 SBS, and wins MVP and both of the knuckleheads that TB got for him blow out their arms trying to impress Kevin Cash and Kyle Snyder with their spin rates. Woo or Hancock may seem a bit low right now, but Randy is going to have a bounce back year.
BuddyBoy
Woo? He would be worth way more than Arozarena
bloomquist4hof
I’m surprised they didn’t squeeze a little more out of the Mariners, but not Hancock or Woo. Hancock would have been selling really low, there’s still a reasonable chance he’s a solid cost controlled #4 going forward despite his struggles to date and they were not going to trade Woo who has been an above average starter and is still pre-arbitration for a couple more years.
YourDreamGM
You can’t get fleeced when you aquire good young talent for a aging, getting more expensive, nearing free agency, good not great player in a year you aren’t contending. Prospects are a numbers game. They could sign someone close enough in talent. They won’t because they don’t want to spend $ but arbitration cost $ as well. Randy isn’t anything special. Even if he was they tried to extend him and he wasn’t interested at their price. Extend or trade.
JohnnyTrident
This guy should have the number one selling jersey in MLB
HalosHeavenJJ
Good K and BB rates, tons of ground balls, and now in the pitching factory in Tampa Bay.
BuddyBoy
Yep. We all know the Mariners don’t develop pitching….
HalosHeavenJJ
Good call.
Mariners and Guardians are also pitching labs.
I should’ve said I can see why TB likes this kid.