Sodo Mojo’s Top 40 Seattle Mariners Prospects: 35-31

We are finally ready to start to reveal our Top 40 Seattle Mariners prospects, as ranked by us. Today, we continue with the next 5 names to make the list.

A few days ago, you read about a handful of Mariners prospects who just edged their way into the cut of our Top 40. Today, we continue our official countdown, revealing the next 5 prospects to crack our Top 40 list.

But before we do, let’s review our process. First, the rankers consisted of 4 staff writers. All 4 writers produced a list of their top prospects. The average rank of each player is the spot they landed on our list. In this case, the lower the number, the higher the rank.

Our rankers were not given any criteria for their list. Different eyes see different things and unique minds value things differently than others. There are no cookie cutters for prospect scouting and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Also, take these ranks with a grain of salt. We do not get to see many of these players often and are relying on graining video, scouting reports, and statistics to cover our bases. If you want top-end prospect ranks, I suggest Keith Law of ESPN and Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel.

Without any further delay, let’s get started.

If Joe Rizzo saw his stock go up in 2019, Dom Thompson-Williams saw his go way down. He struggled in his first season in the Mariners organization,.234/.298/.391 in Arkansas. He struggled to make contact, striking out 152 times in 477 PAs and as a result, he couldn’t get to his power tool as often.

The 24-year-old will need a solid 2020 to make his way through a future projected outfield that is loaded with talent. But the season wasn’t a total waste. DTW flashed the power-speed combo that made him so intriguing when the Mariners acquired him in the James Paxton trade, and his tool belt is still loaded with potential.

If everything clicks, Thompson-Williams could be a fourth outfielder or strong-side platoon player with passable defense in centerfield. If not, he may be destined to toil in the minor league for a few seasons.

I still believe in Thompson-Williams and expect a rebound season, likely starting in AA and eventually AAA. The skillset is so intriguing and if he can max it out, he’s likely an everyday player at the big league level.

Be honest, you forgot about Adam Hill, didn’t you? The secondary piece coming to the Mariners in the Omar Narvaez trade, Hill is a player deserving of your attention. The former South Carolina Gamecock, Hill was a 4th round selection of the Mets in the 2018 draft who set a career-high in innings pitched in his first full pro season.

In A-ball, Hill posted a 3.92 ERA, with 109 strikeouts in 121 innings. But the 23-year-old had some control issues, walking 55 batters, a 4.1 BB/9 rate. Obviously, that will need to get better before Hill can sniff the big leagues.

But Hill has a good fastball that touches 94 but sits 91-93 with plane and sink. Hill creates deception in his delivery, allowing the fastball to play up a bit and also giving it more sink. But the hitch in the delivery has it’s drawbacks, including potential command issues.

Hill needs the slider to pop. Now, it is a fringe-average offering but there have been flashes of more in stints. The changeup is a good pitch now, but not good enough to carry him through a lineup more than twice. The control issues and lack of a good breaking pitch currently limit Hill, who has #4 upside.

But a move to the bullpen could be in Hill’s future, where they can speed up his mechanics and get him to sit 95-96, and where his lack of breaking ball won’t be such a big issue. But for now, Seattle should give him every opportunity to prove he can start and they will.

Art Warren has a big arm. Perhaps the biggest in the organization. He sits comfortably at 95 MPH and can hit up to 100 MPH on certain nights. He backs it up with 2 quality breaking balls, both receiving 55-grades at minimum.

Warren got his cup of coffee in September and flashed legitimate back-end stuff for Seattle. But like so many flamethrowing relievers, Warren needs to throw more strikes, both in volume and quality, or he may end up like Dan Altavilla.

If Warren had 50-grade command, he would be a closer candidate. But that, combined with a series of shoulder ailments leaves Warren with too many questions to rank higher. He has big-time stuff and I wouldn’t bet against him figuring out his control issues, but based on what we know right now, it is tough to project much improvement.

Like Warren, Taylor Guilbeau got an opportunity with the Mariners in 2019 and like Warren, Guilbeau flashed some good stuff in his opportunities. The 6’4″ lefty is a reverse split arm who uses a fastball that can touch 97 with a well-above-average changeup to challenge righties, and a good slider to attack lefties.

Also like Warren, Guilbeau has the potential to be a high-leverage arm if he can throw more quality strikes. His control is better than Warren’s, giving him the edge in our ranks. I see 3 true out pitches in Guilbeau and thanks to MLB’s new 3-batter minimum rule, Guilbeau has a great shot to make the club out of spring training.

There we have 10 names to crack our Top 40 prospects list. As we continue to inch closer to Opening Day, we will inch up our list before ultimately unveiling a star-studded Top 10. But let us know, which prospect do you like the most out of our first 10 entrants?