Top Seattle Mariners Prospect Could be Discussed at Winter Meetings, Per Columnist
The first full month of the MLB offseason is officially over and the Seattle Mariners entered Saturday with little more than whispers and rumors.
Aside from non-tendering and declining the options of several starting players from 2024, the lone move the Mariners made in November was trading for former prospect Austin Shenton from the Tampa Bay Rays.
There was speculation Seattle could be a fit for several free agent targets or could make a big trade, but nothing came of it. Not in November, at least. But there's still one big event on the 2024 MLB calendar that could get the ball rolling on potential moves.
The MLB Winter Meetings take place from Dec. 9-12 in Dallas. The meetings are a gathering of various team and league executives and has proven a catalyst for many deals in past years.
A lot of the time, clubs have at least one major leaguer and/or prospect that dominates the intra-squad discussions.
Bleacher Report MLB columnist Joel Reuter listed 10 prospects that could be at the forefront of the executives' discussions. And one of the Mariners' top minor leaguers was featured on that list.
That player was Cole Young, a top 100 prospect in baseball according to Bleacher Report, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.
2B/SS Cole Young, Seattle Mariners (B/R's No. 59)
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) November 30, 2024
Stats (AA): 124 G, 552 PA, .271/.369/.390, 36 XBH (9 HR), 57 RBI, 23 SB pic.twitter.com/cXv2zWFoIV
Reuter's reasoning for including Young was due to him being the most pro-ready of several top 100 prospects Seattle has that mainly play the middle infield.
The Seattle Mariners checked in No. 1 in Bleacher Report's final farm system rankings of the year, and there were four middle infield prospects ranked among the top 10 players in their system:
2. SS Colt Emerson
4. SS Cole Young
5. SS Felnin Celesten
6. 2B Michael Arroyo
Emerson is likely untouchable from that group, while Celesten is just scratching the surface of his vast potential, which could leave Young and Arroyo as the most likely trade candidates if the front office swings a deal for a middle-of-the-order bat.
Young, 21, is a polished all-around player with a strong hit tool and a good glove that could fit well on either side of the second base bag.
It would take the right return for the Mariners to consider moving him, but they didn't hesitate to deal promising young middle infielders Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo in the deal that brought Luis Castillo to Seattle in 2022.
Young helped lead Seattle's Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers, to a Texas League championship in 2024. In 124 games in Arkansas, he hit .271 with nine home runs, 57 RBIs and stole 23 bases.
Cole Young 2-out 2-run single! Travelers down 3-2. pic.twitter.com/UwgiWPxBhe
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) April 7, 2024
On the surface, it would make sense for the Mariners to shop a top 100 middle infielder simply due to the sheer number of them they have. Especially if those discussions include a quality starting second or third baseman for 2025.
But Seattle might be too committed to Young for him to be included in those talks.
Per a story from MLB.com's Daniel Kramer on Nov. 8, Young is the team's long-term plan at second-base despite the fact he's likely not to factor into the Opening Day roster.
Unless the Mariners find a quality second baseman under team control for several years, it's hard to imagine they'll part with Young. But crazier things have happened.
Related Stories on Seattle Mariners
MARINERS FIRST-ROUND PICK LOOKS TO BE STARTING 2025 IN LOW-A: A recent story seemed to indicate that the Seattle Mariners top 2024 draft pick, Jurrangelo Cijntje, will be starting his professional career with the organization's Low-A affiliate, the Modesto Nuts. CLICK HERE
MARINERS STARTING PITCHER PROJECTED TO RETURN TO ALL-STAR FORM: Popular baseball website FanGraphs has George Kirby having a 2025 similar to his All-Star season in 2023, per their ZiPS projections model. CLICK HERE
VETERAN MARINERS PITCHER INVOLVED IN INTERESTING MOCK TRADE: Luis Castillo continued to be at the forefront of mock trades, with the latest hypothetical deal taking place between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox. CLICK HERE
Follow Seattle Mariners on SI on social media
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on "X" @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the "Refuse to Lose" podcast by clicking HERE.
