Jerry Dipoto basically admits Colt Emerson made things awkward for Mariners

Jerry Dipoto doesn’t usually hand you the subtext with a bow on it. But he basically did when he explained the Mariners’ original plan for Colt Emerson. In an MLB.com spring training story by Daniel Kramer, Dipoto said Seattle drafted Emerson expecting he’d “play himself off of shortstop,” only to admit that assumption is now dead.

“We don’t think that’s the case at all," said the Mariners' POBO, adding: "He’s refined his body and became an even better shortstop.”

In other words, Emerson didn’t just develop, he complicated the timeline.

Mariners are facing a Colt Emerson reality they didn’t expect yet

The clean version was simple. Emerson was the bat-first high school shortstop with enough polish to move quickly, but with inevitability attached to his glove. Even MLB’s own write-up on draft night framed him as a steady shortstop defender who “probably will move to a different position in pro ball,” with third base and second base floated as logical fits. 

The Mariners can’t just assume the move anymore. Not when the club is describing him as someone who “flashes the plus defense needed to stick” at shortstop long term — and not when they’re literally working him at all three infield spots in big league camp like they’re trying to solve a puzzle without ripping the picture on the box. 

It gets awkward fast, because the 2026 shortstop seat is already occupied. Kramer also laid out that barring something truly unforeseen with J.P. Crawford — who’s heading into the final year of his five-year deal — Seattle isn’t planning on handing that position to Colt Emerson this season. 

So, Emerson can be good enough to make the organization want him in the lineup, and still be boxed out of the one spot that best matches his value. So if he’s on the 2026 team, it’s almost by definition going to require him doing the unglamorous work. He needs to be flexible for a year, playing where the at-bats are, and trusting that the long-term runway at short is still waiting for him after.

That’s where Mariners fans should feel two things at once: excited and a little wary.

Excited, because this is the best kind of problem. If your top prospect answered the biggest question about his profile by becoming better at the premium position, that’s a win for the player and the org. Dipoto calling out the physical refinement and the mental side of Emerson’s defensive growth is front-office speak for: this isn’t just a phase. 

Wary, because position shuffles can get weird for young hitters if the messaging isn’t crystal clear. The Red Sox went through it with Xander Bogaerts early in his career, when Boston shifted him to third base and the conversation immediately turned into noise about comfort, confidence, and whether the bat would follow. Even as reporters pushed back on the idea that a defensive move should define his offense, it was widely noted that Bogaerts was frustrated at first because he saw himself as a shortstop.

The best case scenario here is pretty simple. Emerson developed so well that he clogged the fast lane. And if that “problem” lasts only one season before the long-term shortstop door swings open, the organization will happily take the inconvenience.