Seattle Mariners Farm System Earns High Praise From National Publication
The Seattle Mariners ended their season missing out on the playoffs for the 22nd time in 23 years. But the second-to-last day of the regular season, and the entire minor league year that preceeded it, showed that the future is bright.
The Mariners honored several prospects during an award ceremony on Saturday. Multiple minor leaguers featured on Saturday (Michael Arroyo, Lazaro Montes, Colt Emerson) are top 100 prospects. And they're just a few of the league-high eight that Seattle has on Baseball America's top-100 list.
And the recognition for the Mariners farm system wasn't limited to just Baseball America.
According to a post on "X", Bleacher Report named Seattle's farm system the top in baseball — per the publication's MLB columnist Joel Reuter.
Final farm system rankings of 2024 are here ⚾️ @JoelReuterBR pic.twitter.com/NDcKVxH7yd
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 28, 2024
Per an article written by Reuter on Sept. 25, Seattle has six prospects out of its top 10 ranked in Bleacher Report's top tier (Montes, Emerson, Harry Ford, Cole Young, Felnin Celesten, Michael Arroyo) and four in their second tier (Logan Evans, Ryan Sloan, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Tyler Locklear).
Reuter had said the following in his year-in-review section of the rankings:
"The Mariners were No. 13 in our preseason rankings, but they climbed to No. 1 by midseason thanks to several breakout performances and a terrific draft haul headlined by switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and top prep arm Ryan Sloan.
Outfielder Lazaro Montes and second baseman Michael Arroyo had two of the most productive offensive seasons in the minors this year, while Colt Emerson raised his profile significantly in his first full professional season after going No. 22 overall in the 2023 draft."
Boom! 💥
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) May 30, 2024
Lazaro Montes blasted his eighth HR of the season! pic.twitter.com/Z6UC5sOsg1
It will likely be at least one more season before a lot of players like Montes and Emerson make their major league debut. But Mariners fans have already gotten a preview of Tyler Locklear in a couple of brief stints in 2024 and Young could factor in at second base in 2025.
Seattle has received a lot of praise for how it's developed its pitchers. Now it's a matter of whether it translates to position players, as well.
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