J's Trident Podcast comes on the show to help us break down what we think is the Seattle Mariners top 30 prospects! This is a 2 part episode with part 2 being prospects 15-1. Follow us on X @collinslikeitis and follow J's Trident Podcast @jtalkhawk!
Collins It Like It Is
34. Top 30 Prospects Ranking (Part 2)
J's Trident Podcast comes on the show to help us break down what we think is the Seattle Mariners top 30 prospects! This is a 2 part episode with part 2 being prospects 15-1. Follow us on X @collinslikeitis and follow J's Trident Podcast @jtalkhawk!
- Duration:
- 48m
- Broadcast on:
- 27 Jun 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
(upbeat music) - Welcome back into the Collins It Like It Is podcast. My name is Sean Collins and if you listen to our last episode, you know who's on this one. I got my dad here, Larry, thanks for coming on doing the last half of this prospect ranking show as well as Jay. We're gonna dive into the real meat and potatoes of our prospect system. This is gonna be fun. If you didn't hear our last episode, really, the three of us created our own individual top 30 list. We ended up combining those lists to create one top 30 list. We took the averages and whoever had the player ranked the highest was the tiebreaker within those averages. So that's kind of how we came up with this top 30 list. So where we left it off last time was a 16 who was Brody Hopkins. So that's going to lead us right into our number 15th ranked prospect. So who we all have as I should say, our 15th ranked prospect is Ben Williamson, third baseman. Dad, you've got him ranked 15th. I've got him ranked 17th, Jay, wow. You've got him ranked all the way up at number 12. So yeah, we're starting to see a different tier of prospects. If you listen to our last show, now we're starting to get into some dudes. You know what I mean? So dad, what can you tell us about Ben Williamson? - Yeah, Ben Williamson, he is opening some eyes. So I can understand why Jay has him up to 12. I'm right on the button number 15 here, number 15. So Ben Williamson, he's a third baseman. We drafted him last year and 2023 at pick number 57, which was a second rounder. He's a college draft pick out of William and Mary. And right now he's at Arkansas AA. He's 23 years old, right-handed bat, right-handed arm as a third baseman would be, 6'1, 2'10. And again, yesterday I mentioned that Brock Rodden was the American Conference Player of the Year. So, Ben Williamson was the Colonial Athletic Player of the Year. He's also the Defensive Player of the Year, the year before that. So he has an excellent glove. That would be his highest rated attribute would be his glove. So he actually has a glove that they say can play shortstop. - Whoa. - His glove is a shortstop, but his speed says he's a third baseman. - Okay. - But he can probably play all around the infield. He can probably be even a first baseman, although I don't know if he's ever played first base. So he's an athlete, good glove, but just not gonna play shortstop. - Yeah. Did you mention that he had jumped up a level this year? - Yes, so he started in Modesto and now he's up in Arkansas. - He started in Everett. He said Modesto. - Yes, I keep on saying that, don't I? - Yeah. - You know, the A and the A plus, you know? - Yeah. I didn't mean to cut you off. - Oh, you're good. Basically, because he was a college draft pick, we could give him a little lower slot money. He actually got drafted well ahead of his projected spot. So we almost paid it half of his slot value. And we'll find out why here and as we move up the rankings. But Williamson, he is jumping up our boards. - Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited about Ben Williamson for sure. And if you think about our third base kind of just prospects right now, we'll talk about a few of them, but third base is pretty loaded for the Mariners. And even if you think about who's in the Mariners' system under club control, you know, right now, got a pretty good third base situation in the major leagues with Jot Rojas. So yeah, third base is actually looking pretty good for the Mariners, all of a sudden. - That's right. - Not a bad situation. So number 14 is Aidan Smith. Dad, you got him ranked 12th. I've got him ranked 12th, Jay, Bummer. Number 16 in your rankings, but, you know, you can't be right every time. So Aidan Smith, I really like Aidan Smith. He's a great athlete. He's a 19 year old outfielder for the Modesto Nuts. This is actually, you know what I mean? This is the first position player I get to talk about. So we've done all of these rankings. And this is the first time I get to talk about a non pitcher. So if you're paying attention, this is the... I get to talk about a guy that plays in the field now. Let's go. - I like it in the club. - Yeah, he's hyper athletic, can play all three outfield positions. He's got 18 stolen bases already in Modesto. So, you know, hyper athletic. He's a great athlete. He's got 18 stolen bases already in Modesto. So, you know, hyper athletic, twitchy athlete. He's six foot three. So, you know, as a 19 year old, with a six foot three frame, hyper athletic, already has a 115 WRC plus. It strikes out a little bit, you know, 25% K rate, but has a 14% walk rate. So, you know, puts together good at bats, you know, big kid, hyper athletic, can play all three outfield positions, bases, can hit for power. I mean, Aidan Smith is a real prospect. In other systems, he should, you know, here's the thing. Aidan Smith should be a top 10 prospect. You know, if you're at a profile, you know, what type of a prospect is he? But our system is so loaded that he's all the way down for us at number 14. So, yeah, I really like Aidan Smith. Super fun player to watch in Modesto. I've seen him play a few times and yeah, he really pops. So, yeah, super fun and he'll get to play center field. There's a, you know, spoil or there's a guy named by the name of Johnny Farmello that got hurt. So, you know, Aidan Smith's going to play a little bit of center field. So, yeah, I like Aidan Smith a lot. Anybody got anything else to say about Aidan Smith before we jump up to number 13? Yeah, I think he's going to be a good one. Yeah, thank you. Yep, a lot of tools, a lot of tools there. Number 13, Michael Morales. Dad and I both have them ranked, or we both have them ranked at 14. Jay, we got our first top 10 ranking. So, Jay, you got him ranked all the way up at number nine. That is phenomenal. I love it. Go big or go home. You're the perfect person to talk about Michael Morales then because you got him ranked way. One of these things is not like the other. So, what do you love about Michael Morales? Truthfully, just right off the bat. And you shouldn't say this about any prospect. But I think he's kind of a sure thing. He is the definition of Sean, what you were talking about earlier. I don't live the ceiling is super high, but I think the floor is right with the ceiling. I'd be absolutely shocked. Well, I should never say about a prospect, but I'd be pretty shocked if Morales does not settle in to a back end of the rotation starter. And like, you later in Sean, you're both talking about, that is super valuable. Even look at this year with Brian Wu's injuries. I'm not saying Morales should be up right now, but imagine having a guy like that that can eat innings, go deep into games and is under club control. He talked about the Marcos, the Jamie Moyers. Those guys carved out really solid careers doing that. Morales is 6'2", 205, 21 years old. He's an Everett this year with the Aqua Sox. He's a third round in 2021 by the Mariners. And what I love this year, fast muscle a little bit 90s, it's not gonna blow you away, but change up and he's added a slider. And I know, Larry, you were talking about that earlier, we know the Mariners love that. And the numbers have taken a big jump up this year for him too, from Modesto to Everett. 2.390 RA, 79 innings, 77 strikeouts, 22 walks, 633 OPS against. And it just kind of goes back to, again, I think there's more exciting prospects in the system, but like I'm very confident, even next year, I think it's possible. Again, Maris rotations loaded, hard to say when these guys will actually break through. But I'd be very surprised if in seven, eight years, we're not talking about, yeah, Morales is good quality back into the rotation guy. And if you have that under club control, that's a beautiful thing. - I've got a comp for Michael Morales. Can you tell me if I'm way off? - Picture the Mariners version of Mike Leek. - Yeah, mine was Doug Fister kind of maybe a little bit not quite the control of that. But yeah, I think that's a great comp. And if you get Mike Leek out of Michael Morales, that's fantastic. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's, they don't all have to be, you know, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, juniors, or Felix Hernandez's. There's gonna be a lot of guys that are just solid. And I think that's a great comp. I like that one. - Yeah, roster builders. So-- - Yeah, exactly. - Yeah, yeah, well, the next guy we have, he's kind of, yeah, he profiles a little bit different than Michael Morales. The next guy up is Logan Evans. Now, he's a guy we've even talked about on this show. He's the talk of Mariners fans right now. So if you're, if that name sounds familiar, it's because Logan Evans, we start to even jump into a different tier of prospects here. Logan Evans, he's a stud. Dad, you got him ranked at 13. I've got him ranked at eight. That's the highest ranking we've seen so far. And then Jay, 14, what's that about? Come on. Come on. - 14, 14. (indistinct chatter) - It's just reliever versus starter. I do knock relievers a little bit, just they're not as valuable as starting pitching. But I do love Logan Evans, I do love him. - I think Logan Evans is gonna be a stud starting pitcher for us. I think it's just out of desperation, we've got him moving into the bullpen. So, yeah. - Dad, can you tell us-- - Wait, what are your thoughts on Logan Evans? - Logan Evans, yeah, he did start out as a starting pitcher and that's what we were progressing. I just hit my mic. (laughs) So, he will progress as a starting pitcher. He was a 12th round draft pick. So, that's kind of a late pick. In last year's draft, he's 23 years old because we drafted him out of pit. And he came out early as a, actually as a junior. He spent two years at Penn State, two years at Pittsburgh, but actually he was a junior when he came out. Basically, he has just a lot of spin. His sinker has a lot of spin, his fastball has a lot of spin and a lot of armside and run. Basically, that's another pitcher that just is perfect for Seattle. We love pitchers with spin. He pitches more to contact than missing bats because he's thrown 60 innings and he only has 55 strikeouts. But he has control with only 18 base on balls. He has all four pitches. Fast ball, slider, cutter, sinker. I mean, there's a couple different fast balls. - Yeah. - But as most of the Mariners fans know, he has been making the transition to be a reliever because we're probably gonna see him in season here, be a reliever, join our bulk club in Seattle as a reliever, but he can always transition back to a starter. We know we've had success changing a starter to a reliever with Edwin Diaz and with Matt Brash. So Logan Evans, maybe he is successful and he stays as a reliever, but he does profile as a quality starter also. - Yeah. - So right now he's at Arkansas and I think I mentioned he's 6'4, 2'15. - Yeah. Logan Evans to me, this is the one player where if I was just circle and say we got this guy wrong, I would say I feel very strongly that 13 and 14 from your guys' ranks is too low. I just-- - Probably is. Probably is. - It could be. - So. - But I want to show you how good of our prospects are. - Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And here's the thing, he's our highest ranked pitcher. So spoiler alert, everybody else that we've got next is a position player. So the next players that we're going to talk about are difference making prospects. They're not all going to hit, but man, the potential in this next or in the list to come is pretty awesome. So the next player we have is ranked number 11, Jonathan Klase. One of these rankings is not like the other. So dad, you got him ranked nine, Jay, you got him ranked eight. I'm Debbie Downer over here at number 15. I was really high on Klase. If we were doing this last year, I probably would have had him higher than any of you guys. I don't know, I don't know if Jonathan Klase is ever going to just be an average defender. And that's the problem I have with him. He's blazing fast. In order to the movie Mighty Decks 2, where you've got the guy that can't stop, that kind of feels like Klase, like just plays hyper athletic, hyper fast. I wouldn't say chaotic, but just not under control. And I just don't know if that's ever going to translate. The good news is he's only 22. He's a Olympic sprinter fast. But we'll see, I mean, the name of the game, if I'm being completely honest with Klase is, can you play average defense? And can you just get on base 30% of the time? If you can just get on base at a 300 clip, you're going to be an everyday player, not just a platoon guy, not just a guy off the bench. You would be an everyday player with that speed as a number eight or nine hitter. If you could just get on base at a 300 clip. We've all seen him play. He's already debuted for the Mariners right now. He's in AAA, but that's just going to be, that's going to be the name of the game for Klase. I don't know if he can do it. I've got my doubts. That's why he's ranked at 15th, but you can't argue with the tools. And Jay, you mentioned that there was a player, I can't remember what player it was, but if you're saying, or maybe it was a player we're going to talk about, but I would say that Klase's speed might be the best tool out of any of our prospects. Like if we were just to say, okay, what's the best tool, what's the, he's one of the few 80 grade, like legitimate 80 grade tools that we have, and that's his speed. So it'll be interesting to see how he, you know, continues to play in AAA. He is playing well in AAA, but he's got to do it in the major leagues. We'll see if it can happen. So yeah, that's going to bring us to our number 10 prospect. That is Michael Arroyo. We all have pretty much the same ideas for Michael Arroyo. I've got him 10, dad, you got him 10, and Jay, you got him at 11. So what can you tell us about Michael Arroyo? That's Jay, that's you, right? - Yep, just promoted to Everett, spent most of the year at Modesto, just came up to Everett, I think last week, or even a couple of days ago, it's been very recent. Great season, so far in 2024, hitting 278. What I love to see a 410 on base percentage, which is amazing, and a 908 OPS. The home runs bumped up, believe pretty significantly this year. Let me just pull it up here. I thought I had it up, but I guess I didn't, but he's at 11 this year, I think you have three, or five, all of last year, so a boost up in the power. 581, 60 from Columbia. I think profiles a little bit more as a second base, but that's where he's been playing primarily, does play some shortstop as well. I think with the range and the arm, it does profile a little bit better as second base. I really like Michael Arroyo. You know, kind of maybe, I don't want to say loss in the shuffle of middle infielders with, and we'll get to Cole Young and Cole Emerson here. I think hitting tools wise, he's actually pretty similar. He bats right, throws right. Maybe a tier below those guys, I probably wouldn't quite put him with Young and Emerson, but not far behind. This is a guy who watched him, looking at the numbers, the skinger boards. I think in a much worse farm system, this is like a top two or three prospect. I think maybe, I don't want, not forgotten by any means, but maybe buried a little bit behind Young and Emerson. Probably a guy who wouldn't be super shocked is traded, to be honest. At the deadline, if they make a move, I kind of, a lot of things I'm looking out for trades, it's kind of a name I'm throwing in there. A lot is Arroyo, 'cause I want to keep Young and Emerson. Maybe that's just being greedy, but I really like Michael Arroyo. I don't think he's that far behind Young and Emerson. I really don't. I think he's an absolute legitimate prospect, just 19 years old up in Everett. I mean, Mashing this year, and I love the power increase, is great to see. And when it's at a Young age like that, coming into your own, coming into your, it'll set your body a little bit, that's really, really positive. - Yeah. So our next prospect that we have actually tied in our rankings with Arroyo, but my ranking for our next prospect boosted him up, because I got Ty Pete ranked seventh, which is higher than anybody ranked Arroyo. So our tiebreaker system has Pete, Ty Pete jumping up to nine. Dad, you ranked him at 11, I ranked him at seven, and Jay, you ranked him at 13. So we're actually a little bit spread out, whereas Arroyo, we're pretty locked in. Ty Pete, we've got pretty different ideas about. So, Dad, what are your thoughts on Ty Pete? And I'll tell you why you're wrong. - Well, I think the reason Ty Pete is spread out is because we're not really sure what Ty Pete's gonna be. - Yeah. - And he's an athlete. Now, he's playing shortstop right now, but will he stay at shortstop? So he did play shortstop out of Trinity Christian High School in Georgia, and he was a comp A-pick last year, 2023. He got drafted at 17, so he's a young prospect. He's six, two, 193, which I found interesting, 'cause most of them are either a zero or a five. Maybe they were arguing, and they just settled on 193. He's a left-handed bat, right-handed thrower is a shortstop, and then he right now is at Modesto. He didn't get moved up this week, right? No, he's too young. He's only 18 years old. He's a young athlete, playing shortstop, but he can't project it in other positions. Could be center field. He's a five-tool player. The one down spot in his game, it's baseball, but his lowest-rated skill would be his hitting. That's not good in baseball, necessarily. But he can play all over the field. He's got a strong arm. That's probably why he pitched in high school. And, but they say he has a natural power swing, so the power's probably gonna come, and he draws a lot of people with his personality, so he probably has that personality that you just build chemistry with a team. So, but yeah, number 30, I don't know if I mentioned he was the first round draft pick, number 30 last year. - Yeah, I really like Type-E. I think he's just a freak athlete, and I'll bank on, I'll bank on those tools. I've said it many times in this, in these last couple of episodes, I like upside plays, I like tools, I like freak athletes. I'm always gonna error on those type of players and rank those players higher. So, that's why I got him rank seventh, and I understand why you guys would be a little bit lower, but that's what I look at. So, next player is number eight, Ryan Bliss. I don't wanna spend a whole heck of a lot of time on Ryan Bliss because if you're listening to this, then you know who Ryan Bliss is, you know what he's all about. I'll just, I'll keep it brief. What I'm really looking at with Ryan Bliss is it is he an everyday player. Right now, I don't know. Is he a spark plug that gives you a little jolt off the bench, or is he a set it and forget it second baseman? I don't know, no one knows. Scott doesn't know, we can only hope. And I would really love for Ryan Bliss to just be a set it and forget it. Number seven in your order, hitter. You know, he's got power, he's got a great glove. I mean, you can see it. You know, I'm not a professional scout, but you can see it as plain as day that he's got a great glove. Just going to be if he can be consistent with the bat. If not, he does have a role as a major league bench player, worst case scenario. But we'll see if he's an everyday player. I think he is, your guys' ranks would show that you guys think he is as well. Jay, you got him ranked seventh. I've got him ranked eighth. Or sorry, dad, you got him ranked eighth. I've got him ranked as 11 because I'm just not sure if he's an everyday player. If he is, then yeah, I think you guys are right. So that's just kind of my thoughts. He's fast and still bases. Don't want to go into too many details 'cause we've all seen him play. So let's jump up to number seven, Tyler Locklear. We are a little bit all over with Tyler Locklear. Dad, you got him ranked sixth. Jay, you got him ranked the same as well as six. And I've got him ranked at nine. So Jay, why are you way higher than Locklear than I am? - It really, and again, I think it just goes back to like the philosophies. You talk about the goals and everything, which is great. I'm all for that. I love those guys and those guys tend to have higher upsides. For me, it's just, we've seen Locklear playing the big league. Yeah, Bats not claiming he's a success yet, but same with Ryan Bliss. I tend to rank those guys a little bit higher because we know they can play at the MLB level. Now, to your point, I'm like Bliss, where will he fit in the MLB level? We still don't know. But we do know these guys have made it to the big leagues. I love Tyler Locklear. Good chance he's your first base of the next year. The power is, I think, a 60-group power. It's not quite Lazaro Montez, trait power, but it's up there, and it's to all fields too. I mean, he had a couple of that Kansas to be serious. His first hit was to pull off the wall the opposite way. And I thought he looked good at first base. I know some of the scalp boards defensively aren't glowing necessarily, but when he was in Seattle, he made some nice plays. Now, again, small sample size. I thought he looked pretty good defensively. He's made the jump from double-a to triple-a. Actually, he made the jump to the bigs this year, crushing it in the Myers. He got a 933 OPS this year in Arkansas, 971 in Tacoma, limited sample. He didn't draw a ton of 20 with the Mariners, but I do think it's something he can do. He can get on base. And he's close. You know, this guy that very decent chance, something happened to Ty France. I mean, there could be a trade. Ty is not exactly, he was kind of up and down. Myers, go to the Puss. Lachler could be your first baseman this year. He is more than knocking on the door. He's knocked on it. He's been there. And I really do like Tyrell Lachler. I think there's a chance he's your everyday first baseman next year. - Yeah, I think so too. He's ready. He's just road blocked right now. So. - Yep, exactly. - Yeah. All right, number six, Johnny Farmello. I would assume Jay that you would have him ranked higher if it wasn't for the ACL tear. - It's the ACL. That's exactly what it is. - Yeah. So I've got him ranked six. The ACL tear didn't, you know, change him in my rankings all that much. Dad, you've got to ranked at five. So yeah, could you tell us, you know, Dad, I guess you'd be the great person to talk about Farmello. He's ranked, you know, fifth in your rankings. What can you tell us about him? Why do you still have him ranked at fifth? I kind of teased it. You know, he's got a torn ACL right now. Tell us a little bit more about that. - Well, I dropped him in my rankings because of the torn ACL. - Wow. Farmello is close to being untouchable in my book because I just think he has so many tools and so much potential that I'll talk here in a moment about his numbers, but I think he's almost, he's not quite tall star level ranking, but he is well above average in his rankings. - Yeah. - But basically, Johnny Farmello, he was drafted last year and picked number 21, one of our three first round picks. He's an outfielder and he's a center fielder. He has elite speed and he has elite speed and he is 62, 205. So he's already at 19 years old. He's big, he has room for growth. And with that growth is gonna come more power and maybe he isn't elite speed anymore, but he's gonna have very good speed at bigger than 62, 205 when he matures. And so he's big, he's strong, he has power, elite speed, he's athletic, he hits for average. And so he's truly a five tool player with some of his attributes being elite. So that's why I'm high on Johnny Farmello, five. I dropped him at least, I would say probably two spots because of his injury. - Yeah. - Mariners are high on him also because they signed him at over slot value last year at $3.2 million. So Seattle's high on him also. I mean, he's climbing prospect lists. One person I read is the athletic Keith Law, he has some number 49 overall, over all prospects in the major leagues, minor leagues, I guess. So number 49 overall prospect at 19 years old, he's in Modesto right now, left handed hitter, right handed thrower. So he's got room to grow and tools all over the place. So that's why I like him at dropped him to number five. - All right. Yeah, I don't disagree with anything you're saying. I would assume Jay, you'd line up with that if it wasn't for the ACL tear. - Yeah, anytime a guy misses a year, it's tough, but I love Johnny Farmello. I mean, that's someone that I might have even debated top three as well, that he'd been fully healthy. I do love Johnny Farmello. Just the injury made me drop it will bet that's all. - Yeah. One more thing is the reason we have so many first round picks was I believe it was the first time ever that they had the prospect promotion incentive. So we got Johnny Farmello because Julio won Rookie of the Year and he started the year on our roster. So that is a prospect promotion incentive when Julio won Rookie of the Year. We got the 29th pick and turned out to be Johnny Farmello. And the reason I have him not quite at all star level, which is a 70 grade, I have him at 60 to 65 grade is because his average is at 264, averages in my book is 250, his on base percentage is almost 400 and his OPS is 819, which that's just gonna go up. - Yep. - All right. So let's move up to number five, Harry Ford. Jay, you and I are locked in step with this one. We got Harry Ford ranked the fourth. Dad, you got him all the way down to number seven. Harry Ford is a catching prospect right now. He's in double A. He's an on base machine. He has a rocket arm, plays great defense. It was rumored early on that he was gonna move and kind of be like a Craig BGO like catcher, but like also play in the field. He's a really awesome catcher. So could he still move out and place hex in our field? Maybe he's a freak athlete. Let me look, I think he's got 19 stolen bases as a catcher, which is like what in the world? Yeah, it's just a unique skill set that he has. And yeah, he's one of those like premium prospects. He's a name that's getting thrown out there a lot as a potential trade. I don't think we're going to trade him. I think that that's the type of player that you, I don't know if build around is the right word because he probably doesn't have the bat to like put in and like to set and forget as like a three hitter, but you put Harry Ford as like your number five or six hitter for the next 10 years and have Cal Raleigh and him kind of rotate DH catcher. Maybe you teach Cal Raleigh how to play first base. There's a world where you can still have Harry Ford and Cal Raleigh coexist. That's not something that we shouldn't view Harry Ford as being road blocked by Cal Raleigh. You can still fit those players in together. It's not far-fetched. You could teach Harry Ford how to play right field. There's there's a world where they still play in the same lineup every day. So yeah, I really like Harry Ford. I've got him ranked four love that prospect. The stage is also it's never been too bright for him. He really thrived in the world baseball classic. So I'm all in on Harry Ford. You guys have anything else to say any thoughts on Harry Ford? Yeah, I like Harry Ford even though I did rank him number seven. It's only because I like the players I ranked ahead of him, obviously better. I had Lockler ahead of Ford because I think Lockler really showed that he belongs in the major leagues and can play in the major leagues. And then I had Fermelo even though he dropped and then we'll mention the other players I had ahead of Ford also. Because I had Fermelo and Lockler ahead of Ford. I think Ford's best skill is his just strike zone awareness. You know, his walk rate is 21%, which is like what? You know, that's up there. So yeah, it's got a 125 WRC plus as a 21 year old in Arkansas. That's going to work. So really excited about Harry Ford. I see him next year. So yeah, we'll see if he gets traded. If we trade him, we better get a freaking haul. That's all I got to say. So yeah, Las Montes, that is our number four ranked prospect. This one, this one is, in my opinion, this is where things really jump up for us. Where we're not just talking about like, oh, these are nice players. We just said, Harry Ford, you know, he'd be like a number five hitter for you. Las Montes, to me, is where things really jump up. What do you think about Las Montes, Jay? I've got him ranked third. Dad, you've got him ranked third, Jay, you've got to rank fifth. Las Montes, man, let's let's let's let a rip. - I don't think there's a fun prospect in the manner system. I mean, I think some like, there might be better, but in terms of just God, I want to see at the big league level more than anybody else is Las Montes. Not right now, but down the road. I mean, you talked about, and Sean, we were talking about, you said, claset speed, we're talking about the other one. Montes is power in grade. I mean, it's probably the best skill in this farm system up there along with claset speed, you know, just that 80 grad power. And big thing for Montes this year, he's cut back on the strikeouts last year in 241 at bats. He struck out 76 times this year. He's in 259 at bats. He struck out 60 times. He was also just promoted to Everett. 309 average, 414 OBP, 525 slugging, 939 OPS, 13 home runs, 19 years old, 310 out of Cuba. I mean, there's just not, and I actually don't think, I know there's been some knocks on his range, and listen, I could see he's kind of got that frame. I don't know if it'll age very well in the outfield, but I don't think he's going to be necessarily like awful defensive outfield. I don't think he's going to be someone that you're, he might be average, but man, if you get that bat with like average defense, you're talking about a pretty, pretty darn good baseball player. Yeah. My only concern with Montes is, you know, that power being so good, we have, and that's why I love these cut back on the strikeouts. He's getting on base, showing better stuff in the field, because we have seen a lot of guys with like 80 grade power guys, like Jesus Monteiro, that, you know, if that's the only thing they can do, Major League pitch will exploit you. They won't get you out, but I don't think it's just the power. That's obviously the best skill set for Montes, but I think there are two. I think he's just a one trick with me. So yeah, I think most fun player in the mariner system. My only concern with Montes is if he's going to kill the pitcher anytime he's up, that's really the only concern I have. Yeah. You're laughing. Because I've seen him play, and every time I am there, I'm like, watch out. Is there someone going to stop this? Why is the umpire letting this happen? I just, he's-- He's among boys. Seriously. I mean, he's in low A, so he is playing with, you know, 19-year-olds, you know, you'll see some string being right out of high school, and here comes Lazaro Montes. Full, you know, you just listed-- he's six, three, what? Two, 20? I mean, 10, he's every bit of that. I mean-- He's over that. I think so. Yeah. And he's got this like bandana that he wears, where it's like, dude, like just yoked, and it's like, man, he's going to kill somebody. So I love Laz Montes. You could talk me into having him just be number one. I mean, just full stop, just like, best prospect. Yeah, he's a freak. So yeah, I'm all in on him. He's been somebody that, you know, people will just casually throw around trading. And it's like, no, let's let that name carries some weight. And I also will say this. You'll hear a lot of people, a lot of people that I really respect say, oh, he's a DH only. I would strongly push back on that. You will see him out in the outfield, and he can make the average play. He's not going to do anything spectacular, but he has actually a really strong arm. And he's got decent enough range. And I think it's only going to get better as he works on it. You think about Julio. I'm not saying he's going to be Julio by any means, but Julio came up as a 19 year old. And the question mark was, well, he's slow and he doesn't play good defense, but he's got, you know, 80 grade power. Sound familiar? I'm just saying. So I'm not projecting him to be Julio, but I'm just saying just because he's not good at defense when he's 19 doesn't mean he's not going to be good at defense. So that's all I'm just saying. We can't project him to be a DH only when he's 19. So yeah, let's let's move on to our number three rank prospect. That's Cole Young. Dad, you got him ranked fourth. I've got him ranked fifth. Jay, you got him at two. Wow, let's go. What can you tell us about Cole Young, dad, and why do you hate him? I don't hate him at all. I got him ranked higher than you do. That's true. That is to compare to Jay. I love that Cole Young. I'm glad we have Cole Young. And a lot of boards have him as our number one ranked prospect, which is understandable also because just some vitals on him is we drafted him out of high school, the North Allegheny High School in Pennsylvania in 2022. And so right now he's a 20 year old playing at AA Arkansas. So he's young. So he's coming up fast through our system. Right now he's playing shortstop, but he's probably going to end up being a second baseman. In my opinion, I mean, he does have a good glove, but just when I watch him just on TV, you know, he'll make a throw. He just doesn't have a cannon of an arm. He has a serviceable arm. He can make the throw, but I think he projects more as a second baseman. He just has an outstanding bat. He's a great eye. He has about an 18% strikeout percentage, 18%. So that's not too bad and pretty good for the Mariners. But he's a high average, high contact. And that's exactly what we need in our system. We can use him right now. It's too bad. He's too bad. He's not 21. Yeah, because if he was a high con, he'd be up right now. He just had a little more experience. Yeah, we need him next year, like desperately. Yeah, but he immediately out of high school, he was in the top 100 rankings. This year, he is in the top 50. In two out of three ranking sites, he's in the top 50. Keith Log in of Athletic has a number 31 overall, and the overall prospect list. Yeah. But basically, he's got a great projection. He's going to be a bat. I don't know where he's going to fit. He's not a middle of lineup bat, but he's going to be a productive bat in your lineup. And he just has high grades all over. So I'll just run my slash line. He's at 270 average, 357 on base. And then his OPS is a 763, which tells you that he doesn't have a lot of slug. He has a lot of on base, but not a lot of slug. But he is a line drive doubles hitter. Possibly 15 to 20 home run potential. But he's not going to be a home run hitter. He's more of the get on base, make contact. Yeah, that's what we need. So yeah, I really like Cole Young. My fifth ranking really says more about the other guys than it does Cole Young. He'd be a lot of team's number one prospect. And like you said, a lot of people think he is our number one prospect. So yeah, Cole Young's exciting. If you were to trade Cole Young, he would headline a trade for Luis Robert. He's that type of prospect. So yeah, love Cole Young. Our number two prospect is Felmin-- is it Celestein or Celestein? Celestein. Celestein. All right. So I'm going to go off the rails with Celestein here. So he's a switch inning, 18-year-old in the Arizona Complex League. He's just absolutely dominating. I think we ended up signing him for $4.5 million. So that kind of tells you what the Mariners think about him. We don't throw around $4-- sorry, $4.7 million. We don't just throw that money around to international prospects. So that just kind of tells you the talent that Celestein has. His comp is Francisco Lindor. And this is where I'm going to go off the rails. This is where I'm going to go off the rails. I think that's too low. Now, I'm being dead serious. You're laughing. I'm not laughing. I think that Francisco Lindor has like, oh, who does he profile as? I think that's too low. Because I think Celestein legitimately has like face of the major league's best player in the world talent. He's got 1,000 OPS as an 18-year-old in the Arizona Complex League. I just think that he has all-o-world Hall of Fame potential, unlike any of our other prospects. If I was to say, OK, who's got the, you know, kangri-free junior upside? It's Celestein. I don't think that anybody else really comes close to that. Now, our number one prospect we'll get to in a second. I do think that he is our number one prospect because of his floor. But if you're just telling me, who's got the highest ceiling? I think it's Celestein. Now, I'm obviously joking a little bit about, you know, Francisco Lindor is being too low. But I'm just saying, I think his ceiling is higher than what Francisco Lindor actually is. So that's where I'm saying, I think that's a little low. Now, obviously, if he turns into Francisco Lindor, that'll work happy. That we will be ecstatic if he turns into a perennial All-Star. But I think that he has even higher potential than a perennial All-Star. I think he has Hall of Fame potential. He's a once every 10-year prospect. And I think that as he goes through our system, I think he's going to be jumping up into the overall prospect list. I think he'll be jumping up into the top five here soon. It's just going to take time. You don't see those type of prospects get that ranking as Arizona complex league players. But as he gets into Everett, AA, I think you'll see him jump up and be that type of prospect. So, yeah, that's Celestine. Do you guys push back on that at all, or do you think that that's accurate? Well, I'm not going to say anyone's Hall of Famer. I'm not saying he's Hall of Famer. I'm saying he has that ceiling. Like, who has a, well, I'll put it this way. Out of all the guys we have in our system, who actually could be a Hall of Famer, there's only a couple. I'd say Montes and Celestine, like if I'm being-- I'm obviously-- hi, I'm Johnny Farmillo. I think-- Sure. But I'm just saying, yeah, I'm just saying, like, who has the highest ceiling out of our prospects? I think it's Celestine. Yeah, Celestine. Yeah, I like them. Thanks, sir. Yeah. So our number one prospect, everyone could see this coming a mile away, it's Colt Emerson. We all have him across the board, ranked number one. I think that's the only one that we've had unanimous, was our number one. So if there's going to be one that we get unanimous, you might as well have it be the number one prospect in the whole system. So Jay, you get the grand finale here. What can you tell us about Colt Emerson? I feel honored to bring it home with Colt Emerson. Don't screw this up. Yeah, I mean, right, I know. I will say, like, you know, Larry was talking about with Cole Yang. I think you can make a case for a few guys. That's how loaded the system is. If you want to tell me, Las Montes is your number one. If you want to tell me, you know, Cole Young, I'd get it. But to me, Colt Emerson is just-- there's no kindness in the game. I think his always-graded tool is 50. I mean, there's just-- he does everything well. I guess maybe the knock is you could kind of put him in the jack-of-all-trades master of none. He doesn't have necessarily like Montes's power or anything like that. But there's just nothing Colt Emerson does not do well. I mean, he's been banged up for the last month. I think just went out on a rehab assignment recently. For people that don't know, he was the number one-- or the Mariners' first round pick 22nd overall last season. So far this year in 70-app-app in Modesto. He's at two home runs, 271 average, 441 OBP, 855 OPS, three stolen bases as well, 18 years old. Everything about Colt Emerson to me is just smooth. When you watch him play, you watch his swing mechanics. They're good. He's good in the field. He can go to all fields. He can get on base. Contact, some sneaky power as well. I think the comp I saw, and I don't remember where I saw this, so I apologize for not giving credit, was Dansby Swanson. I thought it was the comp I saw. Which, you know, kind of the first to go, yeah. And at first you kind of go, oh, then you look like, man, Dan Swanson's pretty good player. And if you've got that out of any of your prospects, you take it. I think sometimes people kind of talk about Morales, like the Mike League comparison, which I think was perfect, and that kind of sounds, oh. Then you look at for club control, that's pretty darn good. So, you know, I love Colt Emerson. Again, I never want to say a sure thing. But man, I'd be very shocked if Colt Emerson is not a, at the worst, a everyday major league player at some point. You know, the ceiling, you know, it could, it could ebb and flow. But I'd be very shocked if he's not an everyday player at some point in his career. Yeah. About his left throws, right. Yeah. I think that he has maybe the highest floor. Out of any of our position players. Like, I don't think there's a world where Colt Emerson isn't, like, an everyday player. Like, whether he's a perennial All-Star or, I don't know. Number nine hitter. Yeah. Joff Rojas, and that's not a great. But I'm just saying, like, somebody that you just kind of set and forget, he's somewhere in between that. So, you know, yeah, I think he has a really high ceiling, though. You know, perennial All-Star definitely isn't out of the question for Colt Emerson, that's for sure. The last thing I was going to say to kind of bring us home here because no, we're like 30 minutes over what we were hoping for. But, you know, it's what it is. Can't turn back time. The one thing, the last thing I was going to say is, all these prospects aren't going to hit. That's just the reality. Some of them are going to turn into Evan White. We just got to face that right now. Be OK with it. There's the reality of, you know, if I'm looking at Harry Ford, Montes, Young, Celestine, Colt Emerson, the reality is one, two, maybe even three of those guys are maybe not even going to make it to the major leagues. But, if you were to look at systems like the Orioles, and if you're sitting there going like, OK, I want to be the Orioles, you hang on to all those guys, keep your bullets in the chamber, and there's the reality of some of these guys are going to turn into what Julio is. Some of them are going to turn into Kirby, Gilbert. We need some of those guys in our lineup, but there's the reality of, you know, some of them might turn into Emerson Hancock. And some of them might turn into Kirby. Some of them might turn into Julio Rodriguez, Cal, while also we have Kalanek, and Evan White, and guys that didn't pan out. So that's just kind of the last thing I was going to say. Anything else you guys want to add before we get the heck out of here? Jay's got to, you know, review, or he's got to do a breakdown of tonight's game. What's afternoon's game? Yeah, you have to give them that. Actually, it's like, it was like 8 a.m. I mean, I won't go. Which 12 hours is over. Aaron is wrong. Yeah. No, I think our prospects, we got a wide window. We have a good pitching staff now in our major league club. We can use some prospects to fill in some gaps this year, and we still got plenty of prospects to keep our window at least five years to be competitive. And then, of course, once they make the, once they hit, we got at least four years after that for them to blossom. Yep. I think some of these players aren't going to get traded too. So when we look after the deadline, I bet you this list is going to look different. So I'm going to say two are gone. Yeah. Well, thanks for checking us out. I hope you enjoyed this banter, learning a little bit about our prospects. If you're listening, give us a like, give us a subscribe. If you're listening on iTunes, give us a review on Twitter, X, whatever it's called now, give us a follow. Collins, like it is, is our tag over there. Jay, where can we find your work? Yeah, just head over to YouTube. Type in J's, try it on podcast. I do daily breakdowns of each Mariners game. So you will find me on there. Yeah, good stuff also. Boom. All right. You appreciate it. We'll catch you on the next one. Go in. Bye. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)