Seattle Mariners: International Prospect Starlin Aguilar and 3 others sign

The Seattle Mariners have finally reached a deal with Starlin Aguilar and 3 other international prospects

Due to COVID-19, international prospects who were scheduled to sign last summer were unable to be signed until today, January 15th. The Seattle Mariners have done just that, and the guy that headlines the top of their signings is a young third baseman, Starlin Aguilar.

If you are like me, keeping track of these young guys is a lot more fun when they have interesting or fun nicknames. That’s already the case with Aguilar, as he is known as “Baby Devers” or “Rafael Devers II”, in reference to Boston Red Sox third baseman, Rafael Devers.

Seattle Mariners

Jesse Sanchez shared the news on Twitter this morning of the Seattle Mariners signing Aguilar. OF Gabriel Gonzalez, LHP Luis Pinto, and OF Luis Bolivar were also signed, although Baby Devers is at the top of the list.

Starlin Aguilar is a short, compact, stocky kid… emphasis on a kid as he turns 17 at the end of January, having been born in 2004. While he plays third base right-handed, he turns it around at the plate and bats lefty. At just 5’10” and 177 pounds already, you have to wonder if he will grow a bit more. He’s definitely going to put on weight and muscle as he gets to his 20’s, but a few inches wouldn’t hurt either.

What we do know about him is that he already displays good control with the bat, controlling the barrel through the zone, and showing the ability to hit from foul line to foul line. The power will likely come with age, and his ability to hit to all fields shows a lot of maturity at such a young age.

Remember, he will be 17 when he starts playing for the Mariners. Best case scenario and that’s if he turns into a complete stud ala Julio Rodriguez or Jarred Kelenic, we would see him in 2025. Chances are, it won’t be until 2027-28. Yeah, it’s seven years away, but he will still be just 24 years old when the time comes.

Don’t get too excited about him replacing Kyle Seager, as he will be long gone by then. He is a good signing though, and Baby Devers is someone that Seattle Mariners fans should keep on the edge of their radar now that he is officially in the organization.