Mariners prospect RHP Ty Cummings named as PTBNL in Randy Arozarena trade

The cost for Randy Arozarena just got steeper

The Mariners announced today the completion of the Randy Arozarena trade to Tampa Bay; in addition to OF Aidan Smith and RHP Brody Hopkins, the Mariners will also be sending RHP Ty Cummings to the Rays.

Smith was our highest-ranked prospect in the trade, a potential five-tool centerfielder known for his contact abilities and sense of the strike zone who was beginning to show his burgeoning power in Modesto; he continued to show out after the trade, posting a wRC+ of 155 with his new organization despite being promoted to High-A with the Rays. FanGraphs had Hopkins, a ridiculously athletic pitcher who was a legit two-way player in college, as their #8 Mariners prospect at the time of the trade; the Rays also promoted him to High-A, where he continued to post an impressive strikeout rate. The Rays will now add RHP Ty Cummings to that trade haul. Held out of pitching professionally in his draft year, Cummings was unranked on FanGraphs’ mid-season re-ranks of the system, and in our pre-season ranking of the system, but pitched solidly in his first pro season at Everett, striking out almost a quarter of batters faced.

Cummings was a seventh-round pick in 2023 out of tiny Campbell University, a school over-represented in the Mariners organization thanks to the tireless work of area scout Ty Holub. Cummings, who profiles best as a fast-tracked reliever at present, is a sinker-slider pitcher with a bowling-ball sinker that sits 93-95 and a high-spin slider with late bite. While he racked up strikeouts against the young competition in High-A Everett, Cummings profiles best as a groundball-heavy reliever; over half the contact against him in Everett was on the ground.

With the trade finally completed, it is clear that the team must retain Randy Arozarena this off-season rather than use his two years of team control as a bargaining chip to lure another team to take on an unfavorable contract, as they did with Jarred Kelenic/Marco Gonzales, and as they might be tempted to do to unload the $17.5M player option attached to an underperforming Mitch Haniger. The Mariners made a splash at the deadline by giving up a significant amount of prospect capital to land Arozarena, including a potential five-tool outfielder, a promising young pitcher, and now an MLB-adjacent bullpen arm. With that significant outlay of talent in service of winning now, the Mariners need to press forward this off-season continuing to add, not subtract.