PEORIA, Ariz. — With a big swing, a big stature and a big smile, Lazaro Montes is winning over new fans every day during his first major-league camp with the Mariners.
Earlier this winter, though, Seattle’s 20-year-old outfield prospect had already won over perhaps his biggest new fan yet.
Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena, a fellow Cuban, met Montes for the first time this offseason, and they got to know each other over the course of several training sessions together in Miami.
It didn’t take long for Arozarena to buy into the growing buzz surrounding Montes.
“I think he’s going to be one of the best at this game very soon,” Arozarena said this week via Mariners interpreter Freddy Llanos. “ … If he continues on the right path, he’s going to be in the majors really soon, and he can become a star if he continues that consistency that he’s been doing.”
From afar, Montes said he has followed Arozarena’s career, and he was appreciative of the opportunity to build a connection this winter.
“When we were in Miami, I got to talk to him a lot and he gave me a lot of tips,” Montes said via Llanos.
Montes wears his Cuban pride on his sleeve — literally, in the form of an arm sleeve decorated with a Cuban flag. He also wears a headband under his helmet featuring a similar design.
“One of the things for us as Cubans that we carry is how competitive we are,” Montes said. “And to see [Arozarena] bring that to the major leagues, that’s something I’ve really admired. Because bringing something from our culture to this league, it’s special.”
Settling in
Realistically, Montes is at least a year away from earning a big-league promotion with the Mariners.
What the Mariners need now — what they are banking on this season — is for Arozarena to produce as a consistent force in the middle of the lineup.
Arozarena, who turns 30 on Friday, is entering his first full season with the Mariners, who acquired the slugger at the trade deadline last July from Tampa Bay for three minor-leaguers.
At the time, Arozarena acknowledged the cross-country move was a bit unsettling, having lived and played in Florida for so long. In his first spring camp with the Mariners, he says he’s much more comfortable now.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “It was a big transition last year, a big change for me, but I’m here with the team now and you tell they really want to win. They really want to fight. They want to get back into the playoffs.”
In Tampa, Arozarena was a fan favorite. He said he enjoyed the chance to connect with a new fan base in Seattle.
“When I go out there, I try to give as much as I can — all of me,” he said. “And I think fans saw that. But I also like to take time with them — sign balls, take pictures with them, whatever I can. Because those are things that I really enjoy. And I think when fans see something like that, it comes from the heart and it really resonates with them.”
Statistically, Arozarena had his worst full season in the majors last year, posting a 1.7 bWAR (a measure of how many wins above replacement a player is) in 154 games. That was owed in large part to a poor start with Rays, when he posted a .211/.318/.394 slash line (.712 OPS) with 104 wRC+ (where 100 is league average) in 100 games.
After the trade to Seattle, Arozarena posted a 1.0 bWAR in 54 games, with a .231/.356/.377 slash line (.733 OPS) and a wRC+ of 122.
The Mariners are bullish on the idea that Arozarena this season will be much closer to his 2023, when he was the starting left fielder for the AL All-Star team and posted a career-best 23 homers, with 22 steals a 125 wRC+ and a 3.5 bWAR.
To prepare for this season, Arozarena spent time this winter back in Tampa training with Gary Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star across his 22-year MLB career.
Sheffield helped clean up some lower-body mechanics in Arozarena’s swing. “Some little details,” Arozarena said, “that I do when things are going bad and how to correct them.”
Manager Dan Wilson said he’s been impressed early in camp.
“When you look at what he did in the offseason, he is really ready to play and ready to get after it,” Wilson said. “He’s a fierce competitor — a guy that really wants to do it on the field.”
Baseball’s best outfield?
With Arozarena in left field, Julio Rodriguez in center and Victor Robles in right, the Mariners might have the most dynamic outfield in the majors.
Those three have spent a lot of time together already during spring training, and Arozarena credited Rodriguez and Robles for helping him get settled in Seattle last summer.
“[They] play with a lot of emotion, a lot of love for the game, and that kind of helped me get adjusted,” he said.
When Rodriguez, Arozarena and Robles were healthy late last season, the Mariners offense ranked as one of the best in the American League.
After acquiring Arozarena, Seattle’s offense ranked second in the league in wRC+ (116), second in runs per game (4.84) and fourth in OPS (.727) over the final two months of the 2024 season.
Whether they can carry over that success into 2025 might be the most important question facing the Mariners right now.