Photo Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

New Mariners Slugger Luke Raley Found Out He Was Traded During His Honeymoon

Originally posted on FanNation Fastball | By Sam Connon | Last updated 1/10/24

Luke Raley is coming off quite the eventful week.

The slugger got married on Dec. 29, then he and his wife, Katie, went on their honeymoon to St. Lucia. When they set off on their trip, Raley was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays, and he had been for the last two years.

That all changed last Friday, though, as the Rays traded Raley to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for infielder José Caballero.

Raley was pre-occupied at the time of the deal, leading to an unorthodox way of him finding out he had been traded.

Here’s how Raley told the story on MLB Network Radio’s “Power Alley”:

“Yeah actually, I was in the pool playing pool volleyball with my wife and a bunch of people from the resort, laughing, having a good time. And we get out and I had 20 missed calls and a bunch of text messages and I’m like, ‘Something happened.’ So first person I call is my agent, he let me know. I had to get my wife out of the pool and said, ‘Hey, we gotta go up to the room and, you know, discuss some stuff.’ So it was a little but crazy, but no, it didn’t out a damper on the honeymoon at all, we had a great time.”

"All of a sudden I had 20 missed calls."

New @Mariners outfielder Luke Raley on getting traded during his honeymoon : pic.twitter.com/OnAp1l0WCw
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 9, 2024

According to Raley, his dominance in the pool came just moments after the deal went through, and he was happy to reiterate how the two big moments happened to line up.

“So running through the timeline, I got traded around, like, 3 o’clock, and pool volleyball was from about 3 to 4 at the resort,” Raley said. “So as I’ve told all my friends, I got out of the pool, MVP of the volleyball game, and then I got traded to the Mariners.”

Raley hit .249 with 19 home runs, 23 doubles, 49 RBI, 14 stolen bases, an .824 OPS and a 2.5 WAR in 118 games last year. But while the 29-year old was batting .280 with a .930 OPS through July 17, he hit just .197 with a .643 OPS from that point on and missed the playoffs due to a neck injury.

The injury didn't seem to limit him during pool volleyball, so he should be good to go for the Mariners once Spring Training gets underway.

Raley is expected to compete for a starting job in Seattle, going against Mitch Haniger, Cade Marlowe and Dominic Canzone with two corner outfield spots on the line. Raley could also get some time behind Ty France at first base and Mitch Garver at designated hitter.

This article first appeared on FanNation Fastball and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: