Mariners Minor League Recap, Week 15-16: July 8 - July 21

The trade deadline draws nearer

Welcome back to the regularly scheduled minor league roundups! After a busy week of drafting, the minor leaguers are back in full swing and return to their divisional races. It hasn’t quite been smooth sailing for the big league club as of late, so checking in on a flourishing minor league system is quite the breath of fresh air. First up: Tacoma.

Tacoma Rainiers

11-10, 3rd in PCL West

Tacoma has been consistently logging somewhat mediocre ball for a while now, with the second half being no exception. They’ve got some of their good young bats producing consistently, but with the up-and-down promotions occurring with some of their best players, it can prove difficult to find a rhythm. Tacoma is largely just a supplementary piece for the big league club so record doesn’t necessarily matter all that much, but it’s always a plus when the team can lock down a W on a nightly basis.

Jason Vosler has been somewhat of a popular name as a potential promotion candidate, so why not give the people a little rundown? Vosler is a AAAA type of player, bouncing around from organization to organization and receiving big league time here and there. A lefty swinger, the 30 year old has some pop at the plate and has typically manned the corner infield as well as DH throughout his career. At current, he and Spencer Packard have been leading the way offensively for Tacoma, with either of those two as well as Tyler Locklear being viable candidates for the big league ball club. With Ty France officially in the rearview mirror, it’s likely one of these three will be getting the call to Seattle.

Emerson Hancock was brilliant on Sunday, hurling a CGSO for the Rainiers. The first since 2018 for Tacoma, Hancock has been consistently producing for the AAA team and sports a season ERA of 2.06 in the minors. He’ll never be a big strikeout guy, but the former first rounder is proving that he’s more than capable as a backend starter. He should be an enticing name leading up to the deadline next week.

Arkansas Travelers

11-10, 3rd in Texas League North

Arkansas was without their two stars for a few games, but once the young bucks returned from their Futures Game appearances, the Travs got things back on track and swept the short weekend series coming out of the break. Hopefully this Travs team can build on this momentum and really get things going for the second half sprint.

With the Mariner draft class featuring what many project to be relievers, it’s nice to reflect on the one man that’s been locking things down for the relief corps all year long. Troy Taylor, the now Arkansas Traveler closer, continues to dominate at every stage of the minors. Securing his 11th save for the Travelers and 16th on the year, Taylor owns a 1.59 ERA on the season and has brought his career ERA marker down to 2.59. With a fastball that can touch the upper 90s and sharp slider that gets a ton of whiff, he’ll certainly figure into the big league relief picture early next season at the latest.

Everett AquaSox

10-14, 4th in Northwest League

Despite a positive run differential, Everett has been on a bit of slide as of late and finds themselves closer to the bottom of the league than the top. They’ve found some alarmingly brutal ways to lose baseball games lately and have played their competition tight, but they’ll need to start converting some of these close losses into wins if they want a chance at a playoff spot this season. They certainly have the talent to do it, but getting everything to align is easier said than done.

Michael Arroyo has found little resistance in his promotion to Hi-A, managing an .841 OPS through his first few weeks in Everett. Arroyo has seen a bit of power surge this season, a huge plus for the contact oriented middle infielder. Already with 14 homers on the year, Arroyo has doubled his career total this season and is only looking stronger as the season goes on. The defense still lags behind the bat, but the second baseman is clearly one of the Mariners’ premiere prospects.

Everett’s bullpen has been suspect as of late, but there are plenty of guys who have had some flashes for the Frogs. Stefan Raeth, Juan Burgos, Jason Ruffcorn, and Tyler Cleveland all do it a bit differently, but they’ve been big time out-getters for Everett when they’ve needed it most. Don’t be surprised to see some additions to this team after their reliever heavy draft class, either; This group might just turn into one of the team’s biggest weapons for the rest of the season.

Modesto Nuts

11-13, 2nd in California League North

They aren’t nearly as dominant as they once were, but the Nuts have been playing steady ball of late and are weathering the storm of injuries they’ve seen wreak havoc on their squad. They’ve had to grind out some wins the past few weeks, but the offense seems to be trending in the right direction.

Colt Emerson is back to his old self after his ankle injury, collecting five hits in Modesto’s three game set against Stockton. With two doubles, a triple, and three walks, Emerson continues to prove he’s an absolute force atop any lineup and is more than deserving of the lofty praise he’s received from evaluators. The freshly turned 19 year old will look to lead this Nuts team to a second straight California League championship and send John Thurman Field out with a bang.

Not to be outdone, Aidan Smith has been on a tear in the month of July, logging a slash line of .413/.518/.609. The soon to be 20 year old has paired his torrid hitting with exceptional outfield defense and continues to be one of my favorite prospects in the entire system. He is criminally underrated by most fans and provides a complete package of tools that few in this system possess. The young Texan deserves as much credit for this team’s success as anybody and is sure to continue ascending up prospect rankings through the end of the season.

ACL Mariners

25-31, 2nd in ACL West

Though he hasn’t yet played, it sounds as though Felnin Celesten will return from his wrist injury that sidelined him for a month of game time. The young shortstop will look to pick up right where he left off and return to his clobbering ways once again.

Walter Ford has been ramping up his pitch count as of late and has looked good, now sitting at a season ERA of 3.47. His walks have trended down and his Ks are trending up, both positive signs for the right hander. Still just 19 years old, don’t forget about Ford and his big time upside he still possesses.

DSL Mariners

8-24, last in Dominican Summer League Central

Congratulations to Anderson Guevara for making the DSL All Star squad!

That’ll wrap it up for the roundup this week! GOMS!