Mariners Minor League Recap, Week 17: July 22 - July 28

Don’t get too attached before Tuesday’s deadline is up

It feels dangerous to put out a prospect writeup right now with the Mariners clearly in a shopping mood for the impending trade deadline, yet here we are. With the departures of Brody Hopkins, Aidan Smith, Jonatan Clase, Jacob Sharp, and likely another minor league arm as a PTBNL, the farm has already thinned out considerably in the previous week of play. Despite these exits, the farm is still teeming with talent and will remain in healthy shape after the deadline, regardless of additional departures or not. This week’s roundup will focus more on the trade deadline and it’s implications on the farm, but will still feature a some bits on some current performers. It’s always tough to see prospects you’ve followed closely all year go, but that’s just baseball. Buckle up and try to enjoy the ride.

Tacoma Rainiers

14-13, 3rd in PCL West

The Rainiers, now without their trusted leadoff hitter Jonatan Clase, remain a somewhat mundane squad for prospect watchers, however they continue to stay afloat in the PCL standings. The Tacoma team is unlikely to clinch a playoff birth in such a competitive league, however having key contributors like Ryan Bliss and Emerson Hancock continue to develop their games for the better reigns supreme in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps a few new faces join the squad once the deadline arrives, but until then, this squad remains a bit bland.

Newcomer Kobe Kato has been on a real tear since signing with the M’s as a minor league free agent a few weeks back. Starting off in the ACL and ascending to AAA, the 25 year old was released by the Astros in April, played independent ball for a few months, and was eventually signed by the M’s in July. He’s torn the cover off the ball at every level thus far and is slashing .556/.619/.778 across his first 20 plate appearances in Tacoma. It’s always nice to see a player break out after joining a new organization, but it’s especially sweet when it’s Houston’s loss. Hopefully Kato can continue his hot hitting and turn himself into a legitimate prospect once again.

Arkansas Travelers

13-14, 4th in Texas League North

The Travs continue to battle inconsistency amidst an up-and-down season, falling short this week against the Naturals of Northwest Arkansas. It’s not for lack of effort or anything like that; the bats are just not popping right now. They can manufacture runs and play gritty baseball, but they’re missing a bat or three in the heart of their lineup. Maybe the M’s can trade for the Randy Arozarena equivalent of the Texas League and fix a few more of their organizational lineup issues. I’d imagine it’d be a bit cheaper than the real thing.

For everyone who thought Harry Ford was getting traded due to absence in the Travs lineup, I must inform you he has a concussion and is feeling quite ill at the moment. It doesn’t mean he won’t be traded, but that’s not why he’s not in the lineup. Cole Young, however, does not appear to have an injury of any sort and was also not in the lineup on Sunday. While it doesn’t mean anything by itself, this time of year will always draw speculation, and it’s my job to let the people know of it. Cole would be a be a hefty loss for this organization, but for the right player, I can see just about anybody in this system being available. Try not to read into anything too much, but I can’t stop you if you do.

Everett AquaSox

13-17, 4th in Northwest League

Another week, another split series. Everett continues to meander through mediocrity and finds themselves in the middle of the standings despite midseason promotions from some major prospects. They’ve had to navigate a pitching staff devoid of their staff aces and lost plenty of pop in their lineup as well. The flashy names of Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo certainly help, but losing four of your best hitters, your two top starters, and your closer to promotion is a tough storm to weather for any team. The results aren’t there right now, but they’ve got time to get thing sorted out for a late season push.

While Michael Arroyo has been a stalwart atop the Frogs’ lineup, Lazaro Montes has struggled to adjust and has seen his K numbers jump up at his new level. I feel obligated to mention he wasn’t in the lineup on Sunday, but again, it’s probably nothing. A day off is pretty common, especially for a guy who’s been struggling. The long term outlook for the both of them is still incredibly promising, but it’s certainly something that needs to be monitored.

Ty Cummings was utterly dominant in his brief start this week, logging 10 Ks on the day through just four innings. Cummings has been the victim of a few blowup starts on the year, but for as many poor outings, he’s had just as many where he’s looked completely in control. He’s an intriguing starting pitching prospect that yet again looks like a hidden gem from last year’s draft class.

Modesto Nuts

15-15, 2nd in California League North

The ghost of a true juggernaut haunts the clubhouse of John Thurman Field in Modesto, California. Be it promotions, injury, trade, or anything in between, the Modesto Nuts are no longer the team that simply could not lose. They remain a more than competent baseball team and could very easily still win the league championship for the second year in a row, but this lineup is not the unstoppable machine it once was. I know it’s the nature of minor league baseball, but it does feel a bit disheartening to see what was easily the most enjoyable minor league squad I’ve ever watched dissolve so quickly. Thank you for your service to the cause, Aidan and Brody. Mariner fans will certainly miss having you in the org.

Tai Peete tapped into his power stroke this week, rocketing three homers en route to a five hit week. Last year’s first rounder has been seeing time in LF recently (in large part to Colt Emerson’s presence at the six spot), but I’m still not sold the outfield is his long term home. Regardless of it sticking or not, it’s an interesting tidbit to note. He and Emerson were both solid this week, with Emerson drawing seven walks across five games and striking out just once. For the people that have questioned why Emerson has risen up prospect boards so fast, that plate discipline a big reason why.

The Nuts have a few new faces coming to town, with Jose Caguana having already logged a few games in Modesto and both Ricardo Cova and Walter Ford getting the call on Saturday. The trio provide some much needed reinforcements to this Modesto lineup which has lacked length for the last month. All three were some of the ACL team’s best performers all year.

ACL Mariners

28-32, 2nd in ACL West

The ACL season has officially come to a close, with the Mariner team finishing second in their division. Having missed out on Felnin Celesten for most of the season with his nagging wrist injury, the ACL team may not have featured as many big names as it has in year’s past, but there were certainly plenty of intriguing players that will be getting affiliate looks next season. Get to know the name Kelvin Alcantara; he’s sure to figure into next year’s A ball squad.

DSL Mariners

9-28, last in Dominican Summer League Central

Tough scenes for the DSL team this season. A smile would be nice, but there’s nothing worth smiling about.

That’ll do it for this week! The farm figures to look considerably different next week, but we’ll all just have to wait and see. GOMS!