Top prospect Colt Emerson has been reassigned to minor league camp, the Mariners announced. The move likely ends the infielder’s bid for an Opening Day roster spot. Despite his youth, the 20-year-old was said to be in the mix for a big-league job. He’ll now head back to Tacoma for more seasoning.
Emerson held his own during spring action with Seattle. He posted a 111 wRC+ with a pair of home runs and a stolen base. The shortstop kept the strikeout rate at a reasonable 21.3% while walking more than 10% of the time. It’s a tiny 18-game sample, but Emerson held his own in his brief opportunity against MLB-caliber talent.
Seattle had multiple spots to fill in the infield heading into the offseason, with Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez hitting free agency. The club brought back Josh Naylor to handle first base, then traded for Brendan Donovan. The former Cardinal seems to be heading for regular reps at third base. J.P. Crawford has been a mainstay at shortstop. A shoulder injury to the veteran offered a glimpse of hope for Emerson, but it’ll now be someone else who fills in for Crawford if he can’t get ready in time for the opener. Leo Rivas is the most likely candidate.
Cole Young paced the Mariners in plate appearances at second base last season with 254. He scuffled to a .612 OPS in those opportunities. Young finished with an 80 wRC+ over 77 games in his first taste of the big leagues. Spring Training has been a completely different story. The 22-year-old has slashed .294/.368/.725 across 17 spring contests. After hitting four home runs in the big leagues last year, he’s already popped six in Cactus League play. Young has also chipped in four steals.
It probably would’ve taken an undeniable spring performance for Emerson to snag an Opening Day job. While he did reach Triple-A to close 2025, it was only for six games. The likeliest scenario was always that he’d begin the year in the minors. Young’s tremendous Spring Training made it an easier decision for Seattle.
Emerson is the consensus top prospect in the Mariners’ system. He’s in the top 10 overall at ESPN, MLB.com, and The Athletic. The latter has him all the way up at No. 4, behind only Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle, and Jesus Made. Griffin met a similar fate today, getting sent back to minor league camp. McGonigle remains in big-league camp with the Tigers.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
lst. The future is definitely looking bright for the M’s.
With Davis, and now Emerson, out of the picture, I’m looking forward to fan speculation over Brock Rodden now.
Rodden has definitely opened some eyes, but we all know he’s not making the opening day roster.
He didn’t dominate AA. I know some people will blame DSP, but he ran a K% north of 30 (around 33% most of the season) and had just 163 PAs.
I don’t know if he’ll even start in AAA, but it was good to see him have a solid spring. Hopefully he’ll finish developing into a solid utility infielder.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing for Colt to spend some time in the high minors. He’s had less than 200 plate appearances above A+ level. There’s no reason to rush him and his numbers the past few years, while good, haven’t exactly forced the Mariners into a hard decision.
Easy decision. When they bring Colt up, they will have to put him on the 40-man roster. That means someone else gets taken off the 40-man roster, exposed to waivers, and almost certainly taken by another team.
If Colt is ready to stay, it’s maybe worth it. But if you know it’s temporary, you don’t permanently give up a player to do it.
Hollander said during the TV broadcast tonight that Crawford will start the season on the IL. Be on a short IL stint so he can build up on daily AB’s.
If that’s so, they’ll use a guy already on the 40. Rivas would start and my guess would be that Mastrobuoni makes the club until JP gets back. After that, they might have to DFA Mastrobuoni because he has no options left.
Mastrobuoni still feeling his WBC lower body injury. Brad Adam cited a treadmill that lifts/supports him with air bags so his body wight is kept off the injury while running on said treadmill. Mastrobuoni will try to run on the field today.
Rivas/Bliss platoon if JP only misses a little bit of time. If JP is on the IL for a longer period then they’ll call Colt.
I don’t think Rivas and Bliss will platoon, I think we’re more likely to see selective starts for Bliss, but I’m really curious if Young will play Short while JP is out.
If Young is more comfortable there, so be it.
Garver looks like he will become the backup seem reasonable to assume as much even if they did this in around about way. I’m looking to see a better year out of him. He had a nice game today.