2024 Prospects thread

[D-train]

Diaz seems like good SP depth. Papsmear with a nice game. Has an .818 OPS. Get Seby the F out of this org. Clase jammed his fingers sliding into a base. I guess he forgot to wear the oven mitt??

[Donn Beach]

. Houston Astros Claim Former Seattle Mariners Prized Trade Acquisition

Cooper Hummel... lol

[D-train]

Looks like Kyle Lewis is officially out of baseball at age 28. Sad.

[Donn Beach]

Talk about starts. Lewis played in 18 games his initial call up in 2019, six home runs, 13 RBIs

[D-train]

Talk about starts. Lewis played in 18 games his initial call up in 2019, six home runs, 13 RBIs

Interesting how most careers in baseball just end without anyone really even noticing and there is no announcement of any type...

[D-train]

Looks like Jerry's first 2nd Round pick in 2016 is now done as well.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... zzo-000joe

[Juliooooo]

Looks like Jerry's first 2nd Round pick in 2016 is now done as well.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... zzo-000joe

That’s the one that never made sense. He just didn’t seem to have the tools. Not big enough, fast enough or strong enough. Can’t be a 1 tool player and that tool be just your arm and be a position player. I don’t think his arm was that good probably either

[D-train]

Emerson hit a bomb on the first pitch he saw. Guessing he will be in Everett by Memorial Day.

[D-train]

By Adam Jude
Seattle Times staff reporter
On the first full day of minor-league action Friday, things went about as well as the Mariners could have hoped for their top prospects.

Colt Emerson homered in his first at-bat of the season, Troy Taylor struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to close out Everett’s season-opening victory, Logan Evans pitched well in his Class AA debut, and the Tacoma Rainiers won their third straight game.

As the minor-league seasons kick off in earnest this week, here’s a look at the teams and players to monitor throughout the season:

RELATED Could Mariners’ top prospect Cole Young ascend to MLB as soon as this summer?
Best roster: Modesto Nuts
Modesto, the Mariners’ Low-A affiliate, might have the most talented roster of any minor-league team in Jerry Dipoto’s nine years in charge of the Mariners’ baseball operations.

“You could argue that there’s a legitimate major-league prospect at every position on the field,” Dipoto said.

The Nuts won the Cal League championship last season, and they return the nucleus of the team that won 21 of its final 23 games.

The lineup features almost all teenagers, too — notably all three of the Mariners’ 2023 first-round draft picks (Emerson, 18, CF Jonny Farmelo, 19, and 3B/SS Tai Peete, 18) and two other prospects (slugger Lazaro Montes and 2B/SS Michael Arroyo, both 19) ranked in the organization’s top 10 prospects list.

Outfielder Aidan Smith, 19, and first baseman Luis Suisbel, 20, are also highly regard in the organization. Many of these prospects will likely find their way to High-A Everett at some point this season.

Best stuff: Logan Evans, RHP, Arkansas
For an organization that has prided itself on its elite pitching development in recent years, the Mariners might have their most unlikely success story in Evans.

A 6-foot-4 right-hander, Evans had middling stuff and middling results at the University of Pittsburgh, with a fastball sitting in the low 90s and a 6.77 ERA in his final two collegiate seasons. The Mariners took a flier on him last year in the 12th round, and he burst onto the scene in his brief pro debut, allowing only one run across 15 innings, with 15 strikeouts, two walks and a .182 opponents’ batting average between rookie ball and Low-A.

Evans has a six-pitch arsenal. This offseason, as part of the Mariners’ “Shove” camp for pitchers, Evans increased his velocity to 99 mph, complemented by a new sweeper, a two-seam fastball, a curveball, a cutter and a changeup.

“Every pitch that comes out of his hand … is well above average and, in some cases, elite,” Dipoto said.

Baseball America listed Evans as one of its top breakout candidates in all the minors this year.

The Mariners aggressively promoted the 23-year-old to Class AA Arkansas — effectively skipping him over two levels — and Evans started the Travelers’ season opener on Friday night, allowing two hits and one unearned run in four innings.

“I couldn’t have been more impressed personally with how emotionally mature he is and with the leadership skills that he showed in the spring — he’s super attentive [and] he’s easily coachable,” Dipoto said. “He buys into the things that are important to us … with the kind of stuff that he has, he’s got a chance to move pretty quickly.”

Also: Troy Taylor (Everett), Ty Cummings (Everett), Michael Morales (Everett), Reid VanScoter (Arkansas).

Best hit tool: Colt Emerson, SS, Modesto
Cole Young has a chance to hit for a high average long-term, and if everything goes according to plan, he will arrive in Seattle sooner. But it’s another first-round pick, Emerson, who looks like the club’s most well-rounded position-player draft pick in some time.

Emerson was still just 17 when the Mariners drafted him with the No. 22 overall pick last summer. He added about 20 pounds of bulk in the weight room this offseason, and he held his own during his brief Cactus League appearances with the big club this spring.

Emerson homered in his first at-bat of the season Friday, and in the first 25 pro games of his career he has a slash line of .375/.492/.573 (1.065 OPS) with 10 doubles, three homers, 21 strikeouts, 17 walks, five hit-by-pitches, and eight steals in eight attempts.

“You have expectations, but you try to temper them just because you don’t know exactly what a high-school kid coming into professional baseball is going to be like,” said Justin Toole, the Mariners director of player development. “But he’s surpassed any and all expectations, just with the type of kid he is. He’s super detail-oriented. I can’t tell you how many times last summer he told me how much he loved just being able to play baseball every day. And that’s a pretty mature thing for a kid his age. You pair that with a guy who’s extremely talented, on top of all those intangibles, and that’s why everyone is so excited.”

Also: Jonatan Clase (Tacoma), Harry Ford (Arkansas), Lazaro Montes (Modesto), Michael Arroyo (Modesto).

Best athlete: Brody Hopkins, RHP, Modesto
A two-way player in college, Hopkins turned to pitching full time after the Mariners selected him in the sixth round last year. The 22-year-old right-hander has a mid-90s fastball and a slider that could eventually be effective as a reliever, but the Mariners will give him a chance to stretch out as a starter in Modesto.

The 6-foot-4 Hopkins, like Evans, is listed among Baseball America’s top minor-league breakout candidates this year.

Jonny Farmelo, the third of Seattle’s first-round draft picks last year, seen at T-Mobile Park in July 2023. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)

Jonny Farmelo, the third of Seattle’s first-round draft picks last year, seen at T-Mobile Park in July 2023. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)Less
Fastest riser: Jonny Farmelo, CF, Modesto
With apologies to Julio Rodriguez and Jonatan Clase, Farmelo might have taken over the title as the fastest player in the organization.

The second of the Mariners’ three first-round picks last year, Farmelo signed for $3.2 million (well above slot value) to pull him away from his commitment to Virginia, and he has already climbed into the club’s top-10 prospect list along with Emerson and Peete. Farmelo hit leadoff and played center field in Modesto’s first game Friday.

Most intriguing: Felnin Celesten, SS, Arizona rookie league
Celesten signed with the Mariners for $4.7 million in January 2023 as a highly regarded 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. He’s a 6-foot-1, switch-hitting shortstop with elite athletic traits, and some in the organization believe he has a higher upside than even Rodriguez.

Because Celesten missed all of last season with a Grade 2 hamstring injury, the Mariners will ease him into his first professional season in the Arizona rookie league.

Most underrated: Ben Williamson, 3B, Everett
The Mariners’ second-round pick last year out of William & Mary, Williamson “really stood out” during spring training, Dipoto said.

The 23-year-old hit second and played third in the AquaSox’s season opener on Friday, collecting two hits (including a double) and a walk. Because of his age, the Mariners could be inclined to push him up the ladder quickly.

“He’s a guy that everybody looked past [last year] because of the way the draft went for us with all those young high schoolers,” Dipoto said. “And the old man in the group is actually quite a good prospect himself.”

[D-train]

A-: Farmelo and Arroyo with HRs last night. Emerson went 0-4 so he is human. Montes with a decent start hitting .286 and his .730 OPS will pop when he hits his first HR this week.

A+: They somehow played a 14 inning game with is crazy with the ghost runner rules. Unbelievably they had 14 singles and no X base hits. Rodden was 3-7 and his hitting .417/.834. Williamson 3-7 at .455/1.045. Knight 2-6 .375/1.045

AA: Cole Young was 2-4 and is hitting .375. Locklear 1-4 hitting .250 but no power yet so a .500 OPS. Ford is 0-8 so far. Only two games but not surprised in the least. VanScoter got touched up a bit. 3 earned runs and 6 hits in only 4.1 innings.

AAA: Snowed out in SLC.