Superstar athletes are rarely active in the middle of their athletic careers. Two megastar athletes in the sport switched teams in different ways during the 2023 offseason.
The market has been agitated by the trade of Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and the free agent signing of Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been quiet the rest of this offseason, supposedly searching for outfield depth players and bullpen help after they were able to sign Aaron Nola to a seven-year deal, which solved their most pressing need.
That might alter, though, if Randy Arozarena, one of the Tampa Bay Rays’ superstar players, becomes available.
First things first: nothing concrete has been reported indicating that the Rays are considering trading for the outfielder. Based on Arozarena’s seemingly innocent Instagram photo of him and Ohtani, there is only conjecture at this time.
Why then would there be rumors that one of the league’s top players would be traded?
To begin with, the Rays have a practice of trading their young players in order to reclaim prospects before having to offer their star players huge contracts.
They don’t have to spend money on players they can’t afford and can replenish their roster with talent.
The Phillies may be very interested in closing that deal if Arozarena does become available.
The elite outfielder would be a perfect fit for Philadelphia’s needs. In addition to improving their defense, he would give the lineup a much more reliable bat, which is something they lacked in the latter stages of the NLCS.
Main Line Today’s Ben Silver believes that trade talks would need to start with at least their No. 2 and No. 3 overall prospects, Mick Abel and Justin Crawford.
Arozarena would be under club control for three more years before he becomes a free agent, though that may seem like a lot to give up.
Again, this is all conjecture at this point, but the Phillies would be a logical suitor if Tampa Bay placed the star outfielder up for grabs.
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