Seattle Mariners Mock Draft 2.0

Pick 55: Bring on the Arms

In addition to the news that Seattle is aggressively scouting college players, the Mariners are also rumored to be looking for a prep arm in the second round. Dipoto has a history of following a college pick with a prep arm, and it surely makes sense to do it again in 2018. The prep arms of the 2018 class are deep with quality options.

Fangraphs believes the Mariners to be interested in Lenny Torres, a 17-year-old RHP from New York. Torres has a plus fastball and slider, but has some mechanical issues to clear up, and needs to develop the changeup to stick as a starter.

So where do we go from here?

This would be the first time in the Dipoto era that the Mariners spend both of their top picks on pitching. After having success with the Sam Carlson selection in 2017, Seattle dips back into the highly touted prep arm market by selecting Owen White.

White’s fastball sits at 90 MPH, but he’s hit 94 in the past. The velocity should pick up, as White has plenty of room to add strength. At 6’3″, 175 lbs, White will need to add strength to stand up to the rigors of professional baseball. The heater shows good arm side run and should be a plus pitch in pro ball.

A tremendous athlete, White was a highly recruited QB before he focused on baseball entering his senior year. It appears to have been the right decision. White already has a good slider, and both his curveball and changeup are average offerings with room to grow.

Because of all these factors, White could wind up off the board before pick 55. He has a strong commitment to South Carolina, so similar to Carlson, Seattle might have to go over the slot value to put White into the Mariners organization.

However, with White’s 4 pitch mix, athleticism, and upside, it is well worth the gamble.

Pick 90: Where Are The Bats?

Typically, teams don’t go pitching with their first 3 picks, but if a guy slides to this spot, Dipoto will jump on it quickly. But for our purposes, let’s assume that Seattle will spend at least 1 of their Top 100 picks on a hitter.

The issue we run into at this stage is that most of the prep bats worth a selection are long gone, and the college guys left have pretty glaring flaws.

The trick in this range is finding the player you believe in more than anybody else. Last year, the Mariners selected Wyatt Mills. The pick was so unexpected, the MLB Network crew had no notes prepared for him. It was a money saving pick but appears to be a home run selection.

Mills is dominating the low minors, and is on the fast track to the big leagues, and could be pitching for the Mariners in September.

This time around, the Mariners find their man by going to a place where one of their current stars burst onto the scene.

If you don’t know, Cal Poly is the school that brought you Mitch Haniger. Yes, that Mitch Haniger. The Mariners could dip back into the program, and select this college performer, who actually bears a pretty similar skill set to Haniger.

McKenna is a good hitter with a sound approach, who can use the whole field with plus gap power. Sound familiar? In addition, McKenna has average speed that plays up in the outfield thanks to his advanced breaks and crisp routes. Yeah, that sounds familiar.

Where McKenna falls behind Haniger is with his arm strength and power. The arm probably will limit him to left field, but he should be at solid-average to above-average there. Some scouts believe that more power will come, but if it doesn’t McKenna should have a nice career as a 4th outfielder.

His approach at the plate and overall decent skill set make him a safe pick in the 3rd round, and one that could be an absolute grand slam if the power comes.

Next: MLB Draft Prospect Profile: Nick Madrigal

There you have it, another Mariner’sMock in the books. The MLB is just 3 weeks away, and the Mariners have a unique opportunity to add legitimate talent to their organization. Will they take advantage? Only time will tell.