Top Seattle Mariners Prospect Cole Young Unlikely to Make Opening Day Roster
The Seattle Mariners will have a slightly different lineup in the 2025 season.
There will be a lot of familiar faces: Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, JP Crawford, Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles will be among the 2024 Mariners that will be with the team in 2025 barring any injuries or trades.
But there are several positions that need to be improved before Opening Day in 2025 including first base, second base and third base.
And according to MLB.com's Daniel Kramer, a top Seattle prospect will not be among the candidates to become the team's starting second baseman, at least not when the season begins on March 27.
Kramer published an article on Friday saying that the Mariners' No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Cole Young, won't be in the mix for the starting second base position on Opening Day and will likely begin the season with the team's Triple-A affiliate.
Kramer clarified in the article that even though Young won't be the Opening Day starter, that doesn't mean that he won't factor into the team's 2025 plans. Kramer also said that Young is the long-term solution for the position.
"The Mariners’ view Young as their long-term answer, and sources have said that they’ve constructed their roster as such in recent years -- Polanco being the prime example, when he was acquired last year to serve as a stopgap.
However, when they traded for the veteran from Minnesota, Hollander suggested at the time that they envisioned him being in Seattle for two years, before an unexpected decline that was largely related to a left knee injury that required surgery last month and an adjustment to pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park."
Young played all of 2024 (124 games) with the club's Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers. He hit .271 with nine home runs and 57 RBIs and stole 23 bases.
ICE COLE-D 🥶
— Arkansas Travelers (@ARTravs) September 20, 2024
Cole Young sends one sailing to put the Travs on top early tonight! pic.twitter.com/g6UezIFm3h
Kramer pointed out the Mariners do have internal options to start second outside of Young for 2025: Ryan Bliss, Dylan Moore and Josh Rojas are all capable of playing the position. Moore recently won his first career Gold Glove as a utility player.
This creates an interesting scenario for 2025. If the Mariners are committed to Young as the long-term solution for second base, then there's no reason for the team to go out and acquire an elite bat. That makes the rumors about Seattle being tied to Korean Baseball Organization free agent Hye-Seong Kim interesting, considering he plays second base and shortstop.
kim hyeseong, finally 🥺 pic.twitter.com/ht8fRFzllm
— dzah (@hesmyloverboi) March 18, 2024
Shortstop is currently occupied by team captain Crawford, who's signed through 2026.
Kramer's story included quotes from Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander, who said the team has no definitive timeline on Young and won't rush the former first-round draft pick to the big leagues.
“We don't have a certain date in mind,” Hollander said. “I think the important thing that we talk about all the time is making sure we're doing the right thing for the player and not being shortsighted about when that time is.”
Barring a near-Herculean spring training, it doesn't look like Young will be making his major league debut on March 27. But if he is in Triple-A, as Kramer's story suggests, it likely won't be long before that uncertain date Hollander mentioned arrives.
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