What Seattle Mariners fans want to right now is for the team to do something big after missing out on Jorge Polanco, and then take care of the finer details of roster-building later. Which is understandable, but it's no excuse to dismiss the club's latest minor move out of hand.
As reported by Adam Leighton of Just Baseball on Thursday, the Mariners have signed Brennen Davis to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. Prospect hounds will know the name, even if the mention of it might have them doing an impression of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
A prospect blast from the past will be with the Mariners in spring training
Davis used to be a hot-shot prospect in the Chicago Cubs system, and especially in 2022 when he ranked as the No. 15 prospect in all of baseball for MLB Pipeline. His carrying tool was his 60-grade power, and his hit, run, field and arm tools were at least average.
Even then, though, Davis had a history of injuries about as long as any standard texbook on the Roman Empire. That drumbeat unfortunately continued, as Davis had back surgery in 2022, core surgery in 2023, a broken leg in 2024 and further injury trouble in 2025.
The latter took place in the New York Yankees system after Davis was non-tendered by the Cubs, though the silver lining is that he was productive in the games he played in this year. Notably, he had a .900 OPS and 12 homers in 36 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Brennen Davis does it AGAIN, and it's a brand new ballgame! 💣#WhereLegendsRise #RepBX pic.twitter.com/S1srm4M7NL
— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) June 22, 2025
Davis turned 26 on November 2, which puts him in that gray area between old for a prospect and still young for a prospective major leaguer. The Mariners' hope is clearly that they can catch lightning in a bottle with him, and why not?
The outfield is two-thirds settled with Julio RodrÃguez in center and Randy Arozarena in left, but right field remains an unconvincing mix of Victor Robles, Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone. If Davis gets hot in spring training, the Mariners wouldn't have much to lose in considering him as an option for at-bats as a right fielder and/or as a designated hitter.
In the meantime, the search for a Polanco fallback is ongoing for the Mariners. Davis is not so much an answer as a side quest completely unrelated to the main storyline.
