Randy Arozarena of Team Mexico walks in the dugout during the World Baseball Classic Pool C game against Team Great Britain at Chase Field on March 14, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Mexico defeated Great Britain 2-1. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Shortly after Randy Arozarena arrived in Mexico after leaving Cuba, he played his first full season in Mexican baseball for the Mayos de Navajoa of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico.
That was the 2016-17 season, when Arozarena was 21 and virtually unknown outside of Cuba and Mexico. In 51 games that winter, the outfielder hit .290/.382/.347 before signing in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a farmhand, Arozarena returned to Navajoa each of the next two seasons, but hasn’t played winter ball since.
But in a recent interview with Yusseff Diaz of PelotaCubanaUSA, the 29-year-old outfielder said he wants to play winter ball again.
“I don’t know if this season or the next one, but I want to return to Liga ARCO once again to play the winter league there,” Arozarena told Diaz last week. “I don’t know if with Navojoa or another team, but I would like to play winter league again.”
El jardinero @RandyArozarena nos habló sobre la posibilidad de jugar en una liga invernal esta temporada. #pelotacubana #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/iGO4W64fs4
— Yusseff305 ???????????????? (@yusseff305) June 5, 2024
Arozarena led the LAMP in homers in the 2017-18 season, hitting 14 round trippers and driving in 37 runs for the Mayos, who finished 40-28 that year, finishing third in the regular season and losing to the Tomateros de Culiacan in the championship series.
After personally asking Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to help him get citizenship, Arozarena was granted a Mexican passport in 2022 and represented the country in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where his all-out play and personality made him a fan favorite.
With the Tampa Bay Rays this season, Arozarena has had an off year, hitting just .174/.282/.317 with eight homers and 17 RBI.
He is in the final year of his contract with Tampa Bay, and is eligible for salary arbitration following the season, as he has just over three years of MLB service time entering the 2024 season.
