[SPEAKER_00]: Hey everybody, J.J. Cooper, Hazus Kano, another of the Baseball America Prospect podcast Deep Dives.
[SPEAKER_00]: Today, we're talking all about the Seattle Mariners, a system that an organization that is coming off of one of the better years in team history, obviously there is a, that streak that the Mariners are still looking to end, which is, hey, you know, let's, let's, let's,
[SPEAKER_00]: let's see a world series of parents in Seattle at some point.
[SPEAKER_00]: But very good season, and still a very interesting and a very good farm system, especially at the top, his who's great to see you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your first year doing the Mariners, like diving into this system, I feel like it's got kind of a nice mixture of there's some bats, there's some arms, but there's really kind of top heavy too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like what was it like putting together the Mariners list?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, first off, it was my first everything.
[SPEAKER_01]: First handbook season, first year of B.A.
[SPEAKER_01]: and just first year doing top 30s in general.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I've always been a prospect fan since I was a kid.
[SPEAKER_01]: And never really knew what the work that went into building prospect list went into.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not just, you know,
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, the stats look cool.
[SPEAKER_01]: This player should be good.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's talking to scouts.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's looking at it under a lot of underlying metric.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's looking at a lot of video and it's a lot of back and forth.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I mean this this handbook season, you know, hope people go out there and go by because a lot of work went into and there's a lot of really good stuff there.
[SPEAKER_01]: But in regards to talking specifically about the Mariners, I mean, it was a very big contrast compared to the other organization that I'm the same, which is to call rather Rockies, this, like you mentioned, it's top heavy.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Mariners were, you know, a team I grew up watching a lot because I watched a lot of, you know, AL last action going on, because I grew up in California and just having a little bit of familiarity with them, but especially seeing, you know, a lot of these players come through the back fields like in fact, I think the
[SPEAKER_01]: first time we met was at the at the peoria back fields where watching mariners playing a lot of the guys that are on this list like these mariners.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi Pete yes exactly you know I got to see him and now I got the right about him here and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Royo.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.
[SPEAKER_01]: And like you mentioned, it's a very top heavy list.
[SPEAKER_01]: It comes down, you know, there's drop off, which we'll talk about later on, but I think it's a really good well balanced list too with a lot of good players at the top a lot toward a lot of good pitching a lot of solid pitching towards the end to and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think there's a lot of excitement to be built off of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, like you mentioned, you look at that at that Seattle lineup, the pitching rotation.
[SPEAKER_01]: Most of it is homegrown.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, Cal Raleigh homegrown talent.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so you see a lot of players that the that the Mariners were able to develop, you know, Julio Rodriguez being another guy that they sign internationally develop.
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, has became a really good player for them out in center field.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think, uh, I think the state of the farm system right now, I mean, it's in a good spot for a team that just came back, you know, being inches, you know, pitches away from becoming a world series, uh, appearance.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're in a really good spot right
[SPEAKER_00]: We're gonna jump right in the first question we asked when we asked each week on the deep dive this.
[SPEAKER_00]: How difficult was the decision to rank cold Emerson number one?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna say not that hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna just gonna guess that this was a pretty clear number one even in a system that took a very elite college picture at the very top of the draft.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I mean, that was a general consensus from everybody that I'd consulted within the organization and just within, you know, scouts and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: That seemed both players play.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe there was maybe one or two people without Anderson should be the number one guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Emerson, you know, was the number one guy last year.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think we got better this past year.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think I think the biggest, you know, a progression that we've seen from him this past year is his power really grew this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, he was known to be a contact hitter.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think just
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, 2024, four home runs, 25, the 25, 25 are dating back, 20, 25, 16 home runs.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that has to do with just him being able to develop and him fill out his body a little bit more than it has been in the past.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what I've talked to people.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that just took such a huge stride in him and I think everybody becomes, you know, has remained the same.
[SPEAKER_01]: We improved his defense at short stop.
[SPEAKER_01]: The arm is averaged, has strong instincts.
[SPEAKER_01]: And for every level has been a steady rise or you know, made it up the triple A last year.
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's a lot of talks to him right now, you know, being a candidate to be fill in that role at third base that they can role third base right now that Seattle has right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think there's a solid possibility for him to be able to do that because he makes the contact the power is clearly show up.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, and he's going to be a guy that's going to be in every day's shortstop, dirt-based type with a high floor, you know, regular.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think I think it was a pretty slam-duk decision to be able to have him at the number one.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is kind of the answer to the question that the, like obviously the Mariners last year did a good job of really bulking up at the deadline, the added nailer they added as far as, okay, as far as it's gone, and there's kind of, it's been Williamson probably to start the year, but that's kind of a whole, I think you would say, like that's not like they're probably their long-term plan ideally.
[SPEAKER_00]: A little bit of an unknown second to Cole Young probably gonna get a chance to kind of be the second base.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was a position where he had that chance last year and then they kind of let, you know what, we don't know if you're necessarily ready to be the full time second baseman.
[SPEAKER_00]: So a little bit of unknown there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Emerson being not that far away really is kind of the, I feel like he kind of unlocks a lot of this, which is, okay, whether it's Crawford at short and Emerson at one of the other spots, or eventually maybe even Emerson at short, he's not that far away, like you said, he reached Triple A.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he really could kind of,
[SPEAKER_00]: Even I don't think it's crazy to think that maybe in the second half of the season he's kind of a big boost to this lineup kind of a guy who maybe there's a little bit of an acclamation process, but he's a higher upside guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a more impactful player than for instance, say, I've been Williamson.
[SPEAKER_00]: It could be that last year of the Mariners did a really good job of trading to bulk up in the deadline.
[SPEAKER_00]: This year it may be that they get a talent infusion in the case of Emerson coming from within I would think.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, yeah, no, absolutely for sure.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think one thing, too, like, he maybe spent Emerson, maybe spent like a week or two, a triplet just to end the season and get his feet wet.
[SPEAKER_01]: But as we've seen, as we've seen, you've been around this game.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't make longer than I've been alive, respectively.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you've seen, you know, I feel like teams have just been progressive.
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like teams have been much more aggressive with their prospects and they're not afraid that even if this guy just got a smidge of time at Triple A, you know, they're going to heavily consider him to be in that opening day starting rotation, but not starting rotation, but starting lineup.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think as you mentioned too, I mean, what what difference does it make, you know, it's cold Emerson, more impact on the Triple A team, or is he more impact on the Mariners team who has high expectations to
[SPEAKER_01]: This time, you know, I would say, you know, we're reaching the playoffs and reaching where they were last year.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't I don't think that's the market anymore.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think the mark is bringing a first world series to see out on.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think how much better is decided with Colt Emerson in it.
[SPEAKER_01]: If we see the Colt Emerson, that's progressed.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is entire career and that's remained steady through it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a much better lineup.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a home-grown talent.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not going to cost them any money.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not going to cost them any trades or anything like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a guy that you guys went out and picked up, you guys the bellip, and you guys have seen it, and they're really high on, and he could come in and fill in that role, so I think it's a really good possibility to be able to see him in that weather, see opening day or whether it's down the road.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say with that, like, that's gonna be an interesting thing to see in Spring Training because to me, like, there is also this balance, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it's completely realistic and fair to say, maybe Emerson needs more time in the miners.
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, you also kind of know, if he, again, let's just lay it out this way.
[SPEAKER_00]: If he shows up in Spring Training, you're like, this guy's one of the better guys on the team, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, then it does get tougher because this is the great thing about one of the things
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to leave a little sneak peek to PPP I eligible you have to be in the top 100.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, we can't speak for anyone else's.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll tell you right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cold Emerson's going to be in the baseball America top 100.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give that a little bit away.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a big shock here.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to be really high in the top 100.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I summing again, Emerson's going to be in everyone's top 100.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if that's the case, at that point,
[SPEAKER_00]: Then if you keep him up, he basically very quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to bring him up very early and sees him.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you do, and let's say he did win rookie of the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say that down the road, he right, you know, a couple next few years, he was somehow in the MVP value.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing like we saw with Bobby with Jr. You can earn next to pick.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there has to be that little bit of a calculation to this as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: If Emerson shows up to spring training and it's like, oh,
[SPEAKER_00]: He needs more time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's fine.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, more time probably is April May, maybe June, but it could get interesting if he shows up like you just laid out.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that leads us to the second question, which is a lot of this top 10 is the same top 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Col. Emerson, Lazzaravantes, Ryan Sloan, Michael Arroyo, Farmello.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of names in this that were in last year's top 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: but they've also added Kate Anderson.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you say, is this system better or worse than where it was last year?
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say it's slightly worse, just, then this is just a smidge.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not like it's a complete drop.
[SPEAKER_01]: A jump off from a top five to like a top 15.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think this is still a top 10 system.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's a lot of really good talent at the top, but they've also, you know, like you mentioned, there's been graduations.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's been trades, you know, they traded, branding our C.O.
[SPEAKER_01]: They traded Ashton, Izzy, guys who maybe aren't,
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, trendsetters are like bigger anything like that, but there's still guys added value to the system.
[SPEAKER_01]: Harry Ford was traded as we were writing the prospect handbook.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they lost a decent amount of guys, but they also added a lot of really exciting arms and hitters in the draft class.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think you mentioned Kate Anderson definitely does see a boost, but I think also there's been a couple other pictures too that they developed that.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that they selected that.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've talked a lot of different people when doing this prospect handbook that they're very, very high on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, with the stuff that they've been able to do.
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, this is a thing that we're, you know, going to talk about later on, but you know, it's a, it's a pitching factory out there, you know, with the Mariners.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think they, they found their niche, they found what works well for them.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they went out and did that in the draft.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think the, the one thing too, while doing the prospect can because, uh, not a lot of teams do this correct me if I'm wrong.
[SPEAKER_01]: But,
[SPEAKER_01]: The player development site actually goes hand in hand with the draft processes is what I've heard.
[SPEAKER_01]: So you've got, you know, it's not like the the PD is going to have guys who just come in and it's going to be like, all right, here's what we got work with them.
[SPEAKER_01]: These are guys that they all collaboratively together and look at them and like, okay, here's what works well here's what we've done here's what fits this profile.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, but we already have a certain knowledge about these guys.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's get to work and said it, you know, Jim showing up to the instructional league or rookie camp and just, you know.
[SPEAKER_01]: see what we have.
[SPEAKER_01]: So see what they have.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's it's the answer to the original question a little bit slightly, a little bit, but I think it's still in a really good position.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you look a lot of the guys that they have Emerson Anderson.
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, you know, when when looking at our draft comp up, when our draft coverage like he is probably one of the better, most polished guys are the reason he got picked that high up.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think, you know, the mayor's were also very, you know, thankful that he fell down to that slot when Tyler Bremner was selected
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, there's a lot of guys who are really good up site there too and everything like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's it's site, you know, there's a lot of potential for it to get a lot better too down the road.
[SPEAKER_00]: The thing that stands out with that is it's like you said, like, there should be a little bit worse from the standpoint of graduations, but also they did make trades.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it wasn't that it cost them the top end of their talent, but they did trade for nailer, they traded for swara's.
[SPEAKER_00]: They brought in help at the deadline as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: It sure helped that they kind of won the lottery like they did the year before they'd win it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they were one of the big winners, and that getting the pick where they did, I would say kind of equal out some of the graduations some of the trades.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like you mentioned, too, that's the strength of the next question.
[SPEAKER_00]: Good luck.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think to one thing you were mentioning, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Like the trade acquisitions that they were able to do, they got alhanioswires, they got Josh Nailer.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they weren't, they didn't need to give up a lot of players.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they didn't need to give up a lot of high end players.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there was nobody in the top then that get traded.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the only guy that got traded in their top 10 was Harry Ford, who was blocked out by Mr. Cal Raleigh.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they ended up getting, you know, a picture in their boat and that they really liked it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's going to make an impact for them down the road.
[SPEAKER_01]: they didn't need to give up a lot.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's, it's, it's, I was just so amazed that they, for, for the guys, they went out to go get, they didn't need to give out a lot.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I would think like the top 10 guy would have been in there, but, but there wasn't.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's impressive to, to every minute, it's such a good state.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will also say, though, and we did kind of lead into the trade deadline with this.
[SPEAKER_00]: The great thing for them was they needed low cost positions, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're like going into the trade deadline as a team and you're like, what do you need from the rotation starter?
[SPEAKER_00]: May not be available, and even if it is available, it's like, okay, get out your wallet.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to pay really high in prospect count.
[SPEAKER_00]: First base, third base on a veteran who's on an expiring contract.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those are the moves you could make that while they're still, you know, you're going to give up something.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say that the what they got back to see what Naylor did for them, especially post deadline.
[SPEAKER_00]: improved a position that really was kind of a weakness for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do it like they did, it really is impressive.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the other part of this is, let me say, this is a top-hand V system.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's also one we talked about.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Emerson, we would expect that Cold Emerson will no longer be eligible at this time next year, which leads to the idea of, okay, so who's next?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, Danerson, like you said,
[SPEAKER_00]: But we don't even know like depending on how paid Anderson's development.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a pretty polished, polished picture.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would expect that he might be eligible, but that's not a certainty.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not a certain ain't I think as I was as I got the questions and the bands I really had to think about it because Kate Anderson could be a guy that could be pitching and starting rotation by by August, you know, you know, it's up to Seattle what they want to do with him, but he asked a moxie he has the polish to be able to go out and do that right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's tough, you know, it's really tough.
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't pitch off the mound after the after he was drafted.
[SPEAKER_01]: They kept them at the complex and from what I was told he's going to start pitching off the mound.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, in a couple of weeks, maybe even this month.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's going to be interesting to see like I'm going to go with the the safe bed.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to go with the safe bed.
[SPEAKER_01]: That Kate Anderson is going to be the number one prospect by this time around last year, but if Mr. Kate Anderson has graduated, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Ryan Sloan could be the number one prospect this year around this time next year.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, he's he's shown really good development has a really good frame at 65 but three plus pitches and 90s fast ball wipe out slider with a plus change and
[SPEAKER_01]: has a really good feel for the zone at such a young age and has a front and starter of side and you know I was able to to watch and play this year and when Fresno when he was pitching with low aim of bestow and and he you can see all those skills right there going on and I think as he gets older as he puts on more more develops more into his body and gets more I think yes to potentially to to blossom a little bit more so if Kate Anderson is you know
[SPEAKER_01]: build as advertised and is pitching in Seattle at some point this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Ryan Stone's going to be that guy, but if not the safe bet is Anderson.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're being modest.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's one of the times you songs.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll also remember you saw him spring breakout because you went to the Seattle game.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was in Phoenix at that time, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was at a salt river for the D-back versus Royals on the same night that I'm ever watching Ryan Sloan pitching on the mound on the TV in between innings.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, oh, good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to see slow in a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to see them person.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've all had to, you know, I've only seen film.
[SPEAKER_01]: you're right.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm I'm proud to say that looking at this list, I think the only people that I haven't watched pitch in person were Kate Anderson and then Luke Stevenson who's at number nine, but a lot of these guys, I mean, I was able to watch in person.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I take a lot of pride in that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So so yeah, but no, definitely get to see them go on and it's going to be
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I'm getting cabin feet with being stuck in here, van just waiting for spring training to start.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm liking to see who's already in camp and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: They'll go out and get video, but it's going to be nice to add and see a lot of the guys.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, making their stay tight debut to and all that stuff going on.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's going to be exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just mentioned a couple of pictures.
[SPEAKER_00]: I could put it this way.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you talk about how important development is for big league clubs, I think the mariners are one of the perfect examples of they are where they were last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You mentioned, you've already mentioned a lot of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cal Raleigh, Clio Rodriguez, and then you look at the rotation, and you look at, you know, it's not one guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like that they've got this wave of guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got, you can say even like, is George Kirby their best homegrown development picture?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it Brian?
[SPEAKER_00]: Woo, is it Gilbert?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you could, there's a variety of types of arms that they've developed, but when I ask you the question, what is this organization good at developing?
[SPEAKER_00]: What comes to mind?
[SPEAKER_01]: It's pitching immediately like you just mentioned you look at the starting rotation and their rotations of big reason.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, they're a well constructed team at the major league level, but the rotation was a big reason why they were able to have so much success and had that deep postseason run and you know, it's maybe they have a Brian healthy Brian who you know, they they're in the world series, you know, because he just sprung up so much to bear to where he was in the past couple years.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you look at what they have right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Kate Anderson, like you mentioned, who's the guy they took he's very polished, you know, I think they're they're going to do some brief finding some retuning, but I don't think there's necessarily going to be a lot of PD going on there just because he's so advanced, but Ryan Sloan is a high school country that they took that we mentioned earlier, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they went out in the draft, you know, two years ago, Saint John, Dr. Angela, Saint forget saying, and I've heard a lot of really good stuff about him.
[SPEAKER_01]: I got to see him.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was seeing the big thing is that he's, you know, the rare true switch pitcher, but I mean, has such, you know, has so much upside as a right, as a righty, you know, with the pastball side or combo.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the other guys that they went out to get this past year too, like Griffin Hughes was a guy that I heard a lot of good stuff on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Teddy McGraw, who has dealt with a lot of injuries, but I think at his best, he's really good.
[SPEAKER_01]: It has closer potential if they feel like that's the route that they should take down the road.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then other guys, too, like Mike Morales, Mason Peters, Mason Peters picked in this past year, and then Morales, and a couple of other guys that they have out there too.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's pitching too.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they have the raw young talent, some projects that are being able to do it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think as we were talking on the call earlier, the back end of this list is a lot of pitching.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a lot of relief preaching.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, with guys like Robinson or T. Su, I mean, they picked in the row five dress.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's mostly a dodgers prospect, but they find guys in the rough like like Charlie Bayland sin Lucas Kelly for me as you this past year.
[SPEAKER_01]: And even a a very low submarine through a picture like Tyler Cleveland, who was a guy, you know, who in a, you know, 80.
[SPEAKER_01]: 85 mile for our fastball and they find a way to develop and you know I saw him in the fally and so there's a lot of interesting things to be able to for them to be able to build upon and I think the pitching will be there.
[SPEAKER_01]: They actually you know lost their pitching coordinator and the fondows, a screw who's now over with the rangers right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: So not sure if that boy has been exactly filled out at the moment but they're they're in a really good spot to be able to to just you know build upon what they've done with the pitching and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to shout out, you said they'll also have a picture quote, this is not a new thing for the Mariners because I want to go back to like one of you, if you want to talk about the inflection points to me for the Mariners turnaround, let me is a move they made that was really risky a couple years ago, which was they basically said, here are the keys to our pitching development to Max Weiner at a time when not many organizations were saying, I mean, Max was,
[SPEAKER_00]: To say that he was a top pitching development prospect, you could say, but he was very young for the position.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was really kind of taking a little bit of a leap of faith and taking a kind of a little bit of a gamble, but on someone with some really interesting ideas and really talent.
[SPEAKER_00]: It clearly worked.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's when you start here about, again, it's not just Max, but gas camp.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the Mariners kind of really developing this ability to take pictures and really find a way to unlock more from them.
[SPEAKER_00]: You look at this rotation and we talk about now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was a lot of that development.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, again, Max Winner's gone on, gone back, he's got, you know, college, you know, one of the best pitching coaches in college baseball now.
[SPEAKER_00]: But,
[SPEAKER_00]: system has continued to develop pitching.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're having to do this while getting kind of rated talent, you know, as far as coaching talent, you know, time after time, but it is something that really does stand out here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it is one of the reasons I would say,
[SPEAKER_00]: that addition to developing guys like Cal Raleigh, in addition to developing guys like Fula Regas.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, also in addition to finding, because you've also got to develop those little pieces who are less or not the stars, the guys who are productive contributors as well, they've done that as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to wrap up the video portion of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you are enjoying this,
[SPEAKER_00]: go to the baseball america podcast feed if you're watching the video.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have more of this because we're going to keep talking talk about sleepers and kind of where this system starts to tail off a little bit prospect wise and we'll do that right after this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's the guy outside of the top 10?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can't be a sleeper if you're in the top 10. Who's someone outside of the top 10 that you're like, watch out, this is someone you need to keep an eye on.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna be hearing more about probably in the next year, two years, three years, done the road.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, obviously, with me being based in Phoenix and seeing a lot of complex stuff, you know, I'm always excited to see a lot of the international guys or even draft guys make their pro debut or internet or state side debut.
[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately, they're not performed the way that they wanted them to, but Romero was the standard out that team.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, had such great improved contact for a guy that repeated the DSL, made his EVs were much higher, and you know, the other thing too, like it's he's a very good defender.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like there, you know, I've seen a lot of really bad defense.
[SPEAKER_01]: And looking in videos and stuff like that, that was sent to me about the way this kid's been able to play defense he has a smooth, you know, gets low on the ground has a quick release and it's a really good premium defender at that position too.
[SPEAKER_01]: That is starting to develop a little bit more, you know, and this is a guy who I've talked to other people who have, you know, gone on and, you know, scouts have seen him in the DSL and they say, this guy is legit, this is going to be one of the more impressive guys to watch over here when he makes his debut the Arizona Complex, so I think that's one guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: to be able to watch too specifically on the hitter side.
[SPEAKER_01]: Remaro, I'm very excited to see and play.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think that's going to be my sleeper pick for him, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's a number of interesting names after the top 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: You went through some of this with special on the pitching side.
[SPEAKER_00]: At the same time, though, when you do look at this system,
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say that overall, this is one of the more top heavy systems we've seen this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean by that, that basically this is a system where the way I put it is is that a lot of times you see a system and it's like, okay, you have kind of this gradual diminishment.
[SPEAKER_00]: The mariners are a system where guys who are, there's a number of top hundred guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a number of guys who I describe as, they're on that top hundred periphery where whether they're on the 100 or not, they're in the top hundred discussion.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you get not far past that and then you're get to guys who are not only not in the top 100 discussion, but would not be in a top 300 discussion.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where do you kind of see, but I would call the prospect cliff happened here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where does this go from, oh, this guy's a top 100 type or this guy's a good middle of an organization type to more, okay, now we're in a much thinner group.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say after Mason Peters, which is in the 18 to 19, I think after that is when it starts to drop off quite a bit more.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I mentioned, the back end of mine is a lot of relievers.
[SPEAKER_01]: So there's not a lot of prospect value when it comes to people who are being developed as relievers straight up in the minor leagues.
[SPEAKER_01]: But then there's a lot of other players who have shown who have shown.
[SPEAKER_01]: are close to the majors like Ryland Thomas and Victor Labrata who are just going to be fourth, fifth, you know, fifth outfielders and are going to come are going to be great pension pieces are going to be great pinched runner situations but it doesn't scream you know that they're going to develop beyond that and I think that's a lot of the things that you see there's also a lot of really younger players on this side that I
[SPEAKER_01]: may or may not be major legal one day.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then there's players like Jared Sunstruck, who I think shows a lot of potential, but just continues to to show a lot of swing and miss issues that spike the double A.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think after after that, like it really drops off quite a bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's just, you know, I think the back end of this list was a little bit tougher, especially doing it for the first time during handsbook season.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, okay, let's let's look at the different care silly guys who's going to, you know, be able to project to be a little bit more.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think for them, it drops off after
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to also say with that, like this is where the moves they made last mid-season kind of really do kind of, you feel them, not having the Ashton Izzy's of the world, the branding are C's of the world, who may not be elite prospects, but they kind of thicken out that middle to that back of a top 30.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, that is one thing I'll say with this is those are generally
[SPEAKER_00]: Renewable resources is the way I would describe them in baseball, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You have drafts every year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You sign players internationally every year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as you do that, it is easier to fix that part of it than it is to have elite top hundred.
[SPEAKER_00]: prospects.
[SPEAKER_00]: You would much rather, if I was picking and you said, you have your choice, you could have a lot more depth than the Mariners have, or you can have the top in town of the Mariners have, but not that much depth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sign me up for the top in talent any day of the week.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cold Emerson gives them a,
[SPEAKER_00]: one of the best prospects in baseball, Kate Anderson's one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.
[SPEAKER_00]: I always say maybe sad, I can't hear from the standpoint of like a lead pitching prospect, but one who hasn't had a chance to do it in pro ball yet, so we will not put him in that hop tier of the kind of hot to put him a tier with like Nolan McLean and Treyus Savage who not only have done it in pro ball but have done it in the major leagues and are still prospect eligible.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's one thing I want to do to want to before we go back to the top before we wrap this up.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you notice, if you're a very attentive Mariners prospect watcher, you may notice that we have started referring to Michael Arroyo outfielder, not Michael Arroyo, second base infieldder.
[SPEAKER_00]: How much does that change like what we project with Michael Arroyo with the Mariners plan to kind of,
[SPEAKER_00]: kind of look at him as a position change, you know, like a primary position change for 2026.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think the big thing when looking at that, it doesn't have to do because he sucked that second base that was in the case at all.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was a solid defender, but you look at that infield that they have and he's pretty blocked off.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that speaks to how much they believe in the back, because he has it lead back to ball skills with an advanced approach.
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, despite his size, you know, has very quick hands, strong, you know, struggles at the time versus the velocity, but he's shown to be able to make contact.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's shown to be athletic.
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, he's gotten some, some reps right now, plain outfield.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think the biggest thing is to be how much can he adapt, you know, it's a playable out there.
[SPEAKER_01]: Usually, your middle infealers are the more athletic players on the field.
[SPEAKER_01]: They could easily translate into, you know, multiple different positions throughout the field.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, but I think that just has to do with how much they speak to the back, you know, they want to get them in that line up in Seattle.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's relatively close to it, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And they wouldn't be making the position change if they didn't see him as a part of their future.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if they didn't see him as a guy who who's bad is going to be necessary to it, you know, how it develops how it goes down the road, you know, they think they're still, you know, stuff that he needs to be able to prove.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think the, the bats can be able to hold up for him to be able to, to, you know, develop on his outfield and just be able to perform out there.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's a really good position for him to be in.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's tough because he was a solid defender there at a position that, you know, having a bat like that specifically in the middle and field specifically at second base would have been good, but it's you've got to do what you've got to do to be able to to be in the position to win most games and if they feel like a rollo is a guy that's going to win them games and how field they're going to put them up there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say with that, this is something also we talked about the Harry Ford trade earlier.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, this is my, like, my kind of, like, end of a podcast, a little kind of theory here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, Harry Ford is a good athlete for a catcher.
[SPEAKER_00]: That said, I also would say, like, there was this time when the Mariners were looking at, oh, can Harry Ford move to the outfield.
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously he's kind of blocked at catcher.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got Calarali.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I do think, no, he is freed up in some ways by going to the Nationals.
[SPEAKER_00]: He can catch.
[SPEAKER_00]: But his athleticism, as it does with most catchers, he does not run nearly, Harry Ford does not run as well as he did a few years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: If Harry Ford had shown with that kind of on-base ability and all that he has, oh, this guy's a really good outfielder, then Harry Ford might still be a mariner.
[SPEAKER_00]: You saw that, like, dip their toe in the water there and then it was like, no, he's probably more of a catcher.
[SPEAKER_00]: third catcher on the team at the end of the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: With the roya, what we're going to see now, like you said, the key thing we're going to find out here is, is, okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a guarantee, but if a Royale can be a corner outfielder with a bat, again, the hitting ability has always been really impressive, and provide real solid defense value out there in the outfield.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there is, like, clearly a path here from the standpoint of, yes, who are Rodriguez's in center.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, Randy Rosarena is still there in the outfield as well, and they do have Victor Robless, but I would even
[SPEAKER_00]: and say with Victor Robless, like there could be a job share kind of environment that opens up down the road.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as you said, this is the key thing with this narrative team overall.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the thing with this Mariners teams.
[SPEAKER_00]: So many of these players have double-ite prospects have double-ite or higher experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they have to kind of start really figuring how the puzzle pieces all fit together because
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a big difference between we've got this class A, you know, short stop, second base of in whatever and we've got to find figure out where he plays long term.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a big difference when you're saying that versus this guy's going to be in AAA and we're trying to figure out where he's going to play.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, exactly.
[SPEAKER_01]: They have a plan ahead of before time.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think Roya should start the year in AA.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there was a lot of stuff that he needed to work on a bit more once he was challenged a little bit more at the position, but it's like you said like you're going to be able to figure this guy out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Same thing with a, I know Harry Ford when he was in in Arkansas, that's when they started to put him out in the outfield.
[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously that was a very short.
[SPEAKER_01]: a short lived stint to be able to help put him in the alfield, but yeah, no, I mean, a lawyer, a bad stare, and I think that's the biggest thing is the bad stare, how is he going to be able to translate to the alfield?
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they have enough confidence in them to what they've seen for this entire time from to make that ship, but I will be getting a first look at how he does in the alfield first camp, because I will be spending plenty of time in Piori to watch as many mariners prospects and who knows, maybe I'll be able to say I watch, you know, maybe 75% of these guys by the time I'm writing the next handbook.
[SPEAKER_00]: So before I'm planning out travel in all two, so probably bouncing around the backfields with a hazus in just a couple of months.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we hope you've enjoyed another edition of the baseball America Prospect podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Deep dives, if you're enjoying this one and this is not,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we know that a lot of your prospect fans are going to listen to all of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I promise you if you have a favorite team and we haven't covered it yet, we will.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're not going to out all 30 of these.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our goal is to have 30 of these done before really the game spring training, big league games, really get rolling.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see we might miss that by a day or two, but if you've noticed, we're rolling out four of these a week.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're keeping them coming fast and furious, both on the podcast feed, and if you enjoy this, and you only listen to the podcast, I would recommend checking out the YouTube based on America YouTube channel as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: For one, you get to see our beautiful faces here, but more than that, much more than that, especially on my end.
[SPEAKER_00]: You also, we put video over the players and all.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you,
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the reasons we would say Hey Zeus has seen all these players, Hey Zeus shoots video of them, Josh Norris for his huge video.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all shoot video of them, so if you want to see what these players look like on the back fields, if you want to see, you know, these prospects in action, we put clips of those on these videos as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you're not just looking at
[SPEAKER_00]: to talking ahead is talking to a camera.
[SPEAKER_00]: There is more to it than that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, we do appreciate you subscribing to the Baseball America Prospects, Prospect Feed the podcast feed, which has Prospect Podcasts on it, and check out Baseball Networks.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've to pitch, and by the way, of course, check out BaseballMarcha.com, because if you enjoyed this, I promise you, there's more than you.
[SPEAKER_00]: We will keep you busy for weeks just reading the stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have reports, it's got any reports, on all
[SPEAKER_00]: 30 prospects in the Mariners organization with tools, grades for all of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we do that for all 30 organizations.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have international signing day.
[SPEAKER_00]: First day of signing the period.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have all that.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have draft coverage.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the top 100 coming very soon.
[SPEAKER_00]: So so much over at baseballmerica.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: For Haseus, I'm JJ.
[SPEAKER_00]: So long, everybody.