Rays' Jonathan Aranda Is Worthy of Nomination for Prestigious Honor

A productive campaign has Jonathan Aranda as a finalist for an incredible honor.

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The Tampa Bay Rays took a step back during the 2025 MLB regular season from a team perspective. They won only 77 games, the first time since 2016 that they failed to reach the 80-win plateau in a 162-game campaign.

This is the second consecutive year that the Rays did not qualify for the postseason after making it five straight campaigns. However, it shouldn’t be too long before they are back in the playoff mix with the incredible young core that is developing to build their lineup around.

A lot of focus has been on third baseman Junior Caminero, and with good reason. He had a breakout season, smashing 45 home runs and driving in 110 runs to pace the team. But he is far from the only player who deserved recognition this year. 

Another player who people need to be paying attention to is first baseman Jonathan Aranda. After producing a .222/.309/.382 from 2022 through 2024 in 110 games and 333 plate appearances, he broke out in a huge way in 2025.

Jonathan Aranda has earned All-MLB nomination

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As a result, he was selected as a nominee for the All-MLB Team. He is one of 11 first basemen who can be voted for. There are some big names on the list, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays and Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, the Rays All-Star deserves as much consideration as anyone to make the First or Second Team.

Aranda began showing signs of improvement in 2024 with an OPS+ of 109, but he took his production to another level this summer. He recorded an eye-popping 146 OPS+ in 106 games and 422 plate appearances, a consistent source of offensive production for Tampa Bay.

Career-high numbers were produced across the board. He had a .316/.393/.489 slash line. His batting average and on-base percentage both led the Rays, and his slugging percentage was second behind Caminero.

The only thing that held him back was an injury that cost him nearly two months of playing. Had Aranda qualified, he would have been second in the MLB in batting average, behind only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. His on-base percentage would have been fourth behind only Judge, George Springer of the Blue Jays and Juan Soto of the New York Mets.

Jonathan Aranda misses nearly two months with no rehab assignment and homers in his first two games back 👀pic.twitter.com/P8zUQnbZQ2

— Kirk Snyder (@dynastyinfo411) September 27, 2025

He was a legitimate threat in the middle of the team’s lineup. 14 home runs and 22 doubles were hit to go along with 59 RBI. The +22 Batting Run Value that he recorded was in the 88th percentile in baseball.

Aranda consistently hits the ball as hard as anyone in the sport. His 93 mph average exit velocity was in the top 6%. Several of his batted ball metrics, as shared by Baseball Savant, are truly elite. And the cherry on top is that he is a more than serviceable defensive first baseman.

A true difference maker, the Rays have an incredible foundation to build around with their corner infield duo. Turning 28 years old next May, Aranda won’t be a free agent until after the 2029 campaign, which means Tampa Bay will get multiple more years of production out of him before even considering moving on from him.