Spring Training Thread

[Donn Beach]

Julio hit 362 with an Ops over 1,000 in Arkansas and Emerson hit 282 with an Ops of 790 but sure some Scouts pretend they are super smart and say that he's more advanced for some b******* ambiguous intangible reason

It's not the scouts, it's more nerd stats. And I don't think it's the same thing. They are not saying Emerson is going to hit for a higher OPS than Julio. They are saying he might be less likely to struggle with ML pitching. I was going to bring this up earlier. The strikeout thing, I think it applies more terms of development. Emerson shows the ability to make contact. I have no idea what Julio was doing then. But it is an issue, guys that lack contact at that level no matter how hard they can hit can be a concern. I always think of zunino, kinda the poster boy.

Terms of opening his mouth, they have all been pushing the narrative all off season. That's really why I didn't expect them to go after Donovan. I don't think it concerns them too much having all three on roster

[D-train]

Julio hit 362 with an Ops over 1,000 in Arkansas and Emerson hit 282 with an Ops of 790 but sure some Scouts pretend they are super smart and say that he's more advanced for some b******* ambiguous intangible reason

It's not the scouts, it's more nerd stats. And I don't think it's the same thing. They are not saying Emerson is going to hit for a higher OPS than Julio. They are saying he might be less likely to struggle with ML pitching. I was going to bring this up earlier. The strikeout thing, I think it applies more terms of development. Emerson shows the ability to make contact. I have no idea what Julio was doing then. But it is an issue, guys that lack contact at that level no matter how hard they can hit can be a concern. I always think of zunino, kinda the poster boy.

Terms of opening his mouth, they have all been pushing the narrative all off season. That's really why I didn't expect them to go after Donovan. I don't think it concerns them too much having all three on roster

Yes he has been yapping about it all off season to appear they were fine with Colt and Cole in the OD lineup and he has backed off of it since the trade which I kind of give him credit for that but it will be clunky as hell getting their biggest new addition in the lineup almost every day as well as given two of their top prospects regular playing time.

btw Julio had a 18% K Rate and a 14% walk rate in AA and Colt had a 19% K and a 9% walk rate in AA. So now why is Colt more advanced??? Is it because he is White??? LOL

[Donn Beach]

I don't know, seems more like one of those good problems to have. Most likely either Emerson or young begin the season in Tacoma. At some point in the season they should both be on the ML roster shouldn't they? It's an issue that come up sooner or later.

I don't really follow the minors, everyone seems pretty high on Emerson

Young is a former first-round pick who hit .279/.388/.432 in the minors and is entering his age-22 season. He remains a very promising young player even though he’s not technically a prospect anymore.

20-year-old shortstop Colt Emerson is even more highly regarded. The 2023 first-round pick combined for a .285/.383/.458 batting line with 16 homers and 14 steals over 600 plate appearances across three minor league levels. Emerson walked at a near-12% clip while striking out less than 18% of the time. He spent the majority of the season in High-A but ripped through Double-A to earn a late-season cameo at Triple-A Tacoma

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/ ... bliss.html

[D-train]

I don't know, seems more like one of those good problems to have. Most likely either Emerson or young begin the season in Tacoma. At some point in the season they should both be on the ML roster shouldn't they? It's an issue that come up sooner or later.

I don't really follow the minors, everyone seems pretty high on Emerson

Young is a former first-round pick who hit .279/.388/.432 in the minors and is entering his age-22 season. He remains a very promising young player even though he’s not technically a prospect anymore.

20-year-old shortstop Colt Emerson is even more highly regarded. The 2023 first-round pick combined for a .285/.383/.458 batting line with 16 homers and 14 steals over 600 plate appearances across three minor league levels. Emerson walked at a near-12% clip while striking out less than 18% of the time. He spent the majority of the season in High-A but ripped through Double-A to earn a late-season cameo at Triple-A Tacoma

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/ ... bliss.html

Yes they are. "He ripped through AA" with a .790 OPS. (Kelenic put up a .857 OPS in AA) I guess when enough people say how great he is he doesn't even need to put up great numbers and everyone will still believe it. He is literally going to have to put up better numbers in MLB than the minors to live up to the hype. Not a great situation but maybe he pulls it off.

[Bil522]

It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that there is going to be a lockout next offseason. So here is the dilemma...do you keep top prospects in the minors so that they don't miss any baseball or do you bring them up and then they sit during the lockout, for how ever long that goes?

[AT Fresno]

With Donovan, Naylor, Crawford, and Young, the M's are all left hand around the horn. Emerson also hits left handed. I suppose that gives Rivas a spot on the bench. Bliss coming off injury has an option left to go to AAA. He's gonna return to Tacoma this season for his start. I think the first battle for position might well be Young vs Emerson the loser going to Tacoma until June or the trade deadline. If Young loses, he goes to AAA, and Emerson goes to third with 'Donovan at third. IF Emerson loses, he goes to AAA with Donovan at third. Interested to watch right hand hitter Arroyo in Tacoma this year, he could take over third next year. I think it's likely Emerson starts in Tacoma with Young at second but I'm not convinced he will stay. Even Raleigh had to go back to Tacoma for a spell. Also think Raley and Canzone are redundant, I like both and don\t want to trade one of them for peanuts, but the M's could use one more right hand bat....

[AT Fresno]

I meant that Donovan will primarily play 2nd if Young goes to AAA, Donovan will primarily play 3rd if Emerson goes to Tacoma. I'd like to see Donovan become Mark MacLamore..... playing 2nd, third, shortstop, and the OF corners giving everyone a day off during the week, so long as it doesn;'t affect hit leadoff effectiveness. Maybe it will eventually turn into that this year or next depending on injuries and the effectiveness of the oncoming rookies.....