Sodo Mojo’s Top 40 Mariners Prospects: 30-26

We are finally ready to start to reveal our Top 30 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.

Sneaking into our Top 30 is left-handed reliever, Raymond Kerr. Kerr entered the Mariners system as a starter and found some early success in that role. In 2018, Kerr pitched 111 innings in A-ball and posted an 8.16 K/9 and a 4.28 ERA.

But mid-way through the 2019 season, Kerr was moved to the bullpen for Modesto and his prospect status shot up. Out of the pen, Kerr works in the upper-90s with a solid splitter that flashes plus, and a workable slider.

The slider sometimes looks more like a cutter, so a tightening of that pitch could give Kerr a solid 3rd option. As of now, the fastball-splitter combo could work and allows Kerr to get a lot of groundballs, 49.2% groundball rate to be exact. Perhaps most exciting is his microscopic 1.4% HR/FB rate.

Kerr has some command issues to work out to reach his ceiling. He could be a high-leverage lefty or possibly a multi-inning middle reliever. Both roles are starting to gain traction as a legitimately valuable weapon and Kerr’s upside helps him crack the Top 30.

First to crack into our Top 30 is the 2019 11th round pick, catcher Carter Bins. Bins is a college catcher out of Fresno State, who is already an MLB quality defensive catcher with a chance to hit. Players like this don’t typically fall to the 11th round, and the Mariners wasted no time pouncing on him early on Day 3 of the draft.

Bins has soft hands, blocks well thanks to above-average athleticism, and has a strong and accurate throwing arm. He receives the baseball nicely and can steal strikes for his pitcher. He can get better here, but won’t lose many strikes for his pitcher, which is important.

Offensively, Bins has some work to do. His right-handed swing can get long, making it harder for him to make consistent contact and get to his above-average raw power. He has shown glimpses of the power as a pro, as well as an understanding of the strike zone. In his first taste of pro ball, Bins hit 7 home runs in 202 PAs, while posting a 16.3% BB rate

There is upside in the bat, but more than likely he will be a defense-first backup. But because he’s a good defensive catcher with real upside to be Omar Narvaez at the plate, Bins wasn’t going to be ranked any lower than this.

Back to back international free agents? Sure, why not? George Feliz wasn’t a big name international player(at least to most of us), but the 16-year-old has some serious upside. Right now, he has average or better tools across the board and should only get better as he matures.

He has a good swing that generates hard line drives all over the ballpark and shows above-average power in batting practice. He should have no problem sticking in centerfield, where his plus speed and above-average arm play quite well.

If he can add loft to his swing, he has the raw power to hit 15 home runs and 30 doubles. That, along with good centerfield defense and 20-25 stolen base potential makes him an extremely valuable everyday guy.

Feliz has drawn comparisons to Washington Nationals center fielder Victor Robles, while others see some Ketel Marte in Feliz. Either outcome would be great for the Mariners but the 16-year-old has a long way to go to get there.

If he was 20-years-old, Feliz may sit inside our Top 10. He has that kind of upside. He’ll spend this summer in the Dominican Summer League, like Noelvi Marte and Julio Rodriguez before him. There aren’t many prospects with higher ceilings than Feliz who aren’t in our Top 15, so he is one to watch going forward.

Wyatt Mills is going to pitch in the big leagues, it’s just a matter of when. Mills is a low sidearm slinger, with a fastball and slider that both provide value for the right-handed Gonzaga product. Mills was a money-saving third-round selection in 2017, to help the team pay for Sam Carlson, but is already knocking on the door of MLB in 2020.

Mills’ fastball won’t blow up the radar gun, but thanks to his arm slot and deception, it plays up more than the 92 mph on the radar gun will show. It also has a good sink and induces a lot of groundballs, not something that is unusual with low side-arm pitchers.

The slider is the swing-and-miss pitch. It is a tighter offering than other sweeping sliders but has a tremendous spin rate. Mills has tinkered around with a changeup to give him a better offering to lefties, a big concern for Mills’ long-term future in the big leagues.

Some scouts don’t believe Mills uses the slider enough, so a gameplan tweak could help him reach his potential. Mills throws strikes, though his command isn’t what we would consider “pinpoint”.

Last year in AA Arkansas, Mills posted 66 strikeouts in 52.2 innings, along with 17 walks and a 4.27 ERA. He also posted a 1.14 WHIP, a 1.64 GB/FB ratio, and opponents hit just .222 against him.

Mills’ ceiling is limited to a middle reliever, but that is also his floor. Many fans will grimace at the common comparison given to Mills, but Steve Cishek is a good comp for Mills. Cishek had some memorable blow-ups, but has carved out a nice career and even racked up 3 careers 25 (or more) save seasons.

Next time we talk, we will enter our Top 25 Mariners prospects. While we aren’t quite in the “household name” territory, these players are critical as depth, trade chips, and developmental dice roll to keep sustaining the churn of player development success going to the big leagues.