Seattle Mariners Highly-Regarded Prospect Continues to Rack up Honors
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners will have one month of painstakingly watching postseason baseball before the offseason officially begins.
T-Mobile Park and the Pacific Northwest will miss out on October baseball for the 22nd time in 23 years and based on recent statements from Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto, changes could be made to the team when the offseason officially starts the day after the World Series.
And as much as Seattle fans are probably tired of hearing this, the future is bright at T-Mobile Park. Especially when you look at the franchise's farm system.
The Mariners have arguably the best collection of prospects in all of baseball, with eight players ranked in Baseball America's top 100 list — the most in the league.
Seattle took some time on Saturday before its penultimate game of the year against the Oakland Athletics to honor many of their prospects.
Lazaro Montes was named the Ken Griffey Jr. Hitter of the Year, Brandyn Garcia and Michael Morales were named the Jamie Moyer co-Pitchers of the Year, Colt Emerson earned the Alvin Davis "Mr. Mariners award, Curtis Washington earned the Dan Wilson Community Service Award, Michael Arroyo received the Edgar Martinez "Dominate the Zone" Tournament Award, Tyler Cleveland won the pitching "Dominate the Zone" Tournament Award and Double-A Arkansas Travelers pitching coach Michael Peoples was named the Dave Henderson Staff Member of the Year.
"I feel like everything — all the failures I've learned and what I learned (from them) I implemented this year," Montes said in an interview via a translator on Saturday. "And not just for me. I feel like I was able to share some of that knowledge with some of my teammates. (If) they were having issues and I had experience in it, just giving (advice) to them and making them better."
All of those prospects and a few more were in T-Mobile Park on Saturday to talk to the media and the fans and interact with major league players and coaches. But the honors didn't stop there, at least for a few future Mariners.
The MLB released their list of minor league awards on Monday, and Montes and Arroyo got a couple more feathers to put in their cap.
In addition to being named a runner-up for Breakout Player of the Year, Montes was named All-MiLB First Team as one of three outfielders. He's ranked the No. 3 Seattle prospect and the No. 45 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
Lazaro Montes takes this one DEEP to center field!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 4, 2024
MLB's No. 50 prospect (@Mariners) jumps on the first pitch to crush his 15th homer of the season, second for the High-A @EverettAquaSox: pic.twitter.com/77WIGeAscT
Arroyo, who's ranked as the Mariners No. 12 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the No. 95 prospect overall according to Baseball America, was named All-MiLB Second Team at second base.
Born in Cartagena, Colombia, Michael Arroyo had himself a breakout year by hitting a whooooole lot of dingers. #HispanicHeritageMonth pic.twitter.com/SPMN8G7zMa
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) September 25, 2024
Arroyo has emerged as an amazing power-hitting prospect this season with some good defense to boot. But Montes has had lofty expectations since he signed with the franchise out of Cuba in 2022.
Those expectations aren't just limited to the hopes fans and the organization has for Montes, it's the expectations he has for himself. In fact, one goal he has might actually create and interesting competition down the line between him and the face of the franchise Julio Rodriguez.
"I have a dream that I want to play center field," Montes said. "That's my goal. And I really feel like you don't just win ... offensively, but also being out there on defense helping my pitchers. So that's why I put so much emphasis on it (this year). ... I think it would be fun. Just being in and out there competing and sharing some knowledge between us. But I think overall it's just going to be fun competing with him."
Almost on cue, Rodriguez came out of the clubhouse during Montes' interview in the dugout. He and Montes shared some words with smiles in their native Spanish while Rodriguez made his way to the outfield for some pregame work.
The Mariners have a lot of prospects coming up in the farm system that can make an impact as soon as 2025. And if even half of the highly-touted players pan out, then Seattle will be in good shape going forward.
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