Seattle Mariners: Top 10 Rookie-Eligible Prospects for 2018
We have reached the point of the offseason where prospect lists abound. We continue our top 10 prospects for every team with the Seattle Mariners!
Our team top 10 prospect lists at Call to the Pen are spearheaded by Benjamin Chase. Today, he gives us the top ten prospects for the Seattle Mariners.
This season, we will be going through teams by division, in order of 2017 record. The AL East will be first, followed by the AL Central and AL West. Then the focus will shift to the National League in the same order.
The format will be as it was last season for the same lists, with a system review, which will include last season’s list. The top 10 will follow in reverse order, two players per page in order to give adequate space to each player. Major trades or international signings will lead to an updated top 10!
Finally, don’t go away after #1 is revealed as each list will also contain a player either signed in the 2017 international free agent class or drafted in 2017 that isn’t part of the top 10 and should be tracked. Last season’s mentions in that area made over half of the top 10s this season, so this is a great way to get to know a player who could be making a big splash in the organization.
System overview
Last year, I mentioned that Jerry Dipoto had never had a chance to put his imprint on a minor league system. Now, perhaps we can remove the thought that the Angels’ farm system issues were completely due to forced moves to compete from ownership as the thought had been previously.
Dipoto took a system that was a lower-tier system last year and traded away three of the top four players. Then the Seattle Mariners saw a rough year of development and injuries across their entire farm system.
The Mariners have the definitive bottom farm system in the game right now, with really only one player who even merited consideration for my top 125, but that did not make the top 100. A very good international crop this season and a solid draft class will be key to the start to the Mariners rebound in their minor league system.
Let’s take a look at that system….
Next: #9 and #10