Mariners fans have 4 good reasons to pay attention to 2025 AquaSox

According to multiple prospect-evaluating sites around the industry, the Seattle Mariners have a top-five farm system in all of baseball. With the amount of talent this team has accumulated in the minor leagues, that's hardly a surprise.

Kicking off the 2025 season, both MLB Pipeline (No. 5) and Baseball America (No. 5) are very high on the Mariners and the extensive list of young talent they're putting together.

As relayed by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, the Mariners' High-A affiliate, the Everett AquaSox, will be the one that fans should keep their eyes on the closest in the coming minor-league season. Kramer points out that four of the organization's top prospects will be opening the year in Everett.

Per Kramer, the Mariners will have Colt Emerson (No. 1 per MLB Pipeline), Lazaro Montes (No. 2), Michael Arroyo (No. 7) and Jurrangelo Cijntje (No. 9) all starting the year with the AquaSox. What more could a fan possibly want from a single minor league affiliate?

Mariners fans have 4 good reasons to pay attention to 2025 AquaSox

Each of this quartet brings something different and exciting to the plate. Emerson, 19, already has parts of two seasons under his belt as a pro, and has already shown plenty to get fans pumped about his ascent up the organizational ladder.

The infielder is an on-base machine with respectable gap power and speed on the basepaths. He has yet to top four home runs in a single season, but a lack of raw power is something that can be made up for by being elite in other categories, which he's well on his way to doing. Still, he hasn't even reached his 20th birthday yet, so there's a (very good) chance the power is simply still to come.

Then there's Montes, a 20-year-old who's already been showing off the ridiculous pop he's got in his own bat. This past season was his first full one as a pro, and Montes made it into 117 games across two levels, recording 21 doubles and 21 home runs, driving in 105 and sporting a cool .881 OPS. Him and Emerson balance each other out nicely, as one is the contact-oriented, defensively gifted player while the other is a straight masher.

Arroyo, 20, is another powerful bat with wheels and a knack for getting on base constantly. Like Montes, he recorded 26 doubles and 23 home runs with 89 RBI in 121 games last year. He also went 18-for-24 in stolen base attempts and had a .910 OPS that would've been the 10th-highest in the majors last year. He's no slouch, and the fact that he's the seventh-best prospect in the Mariners' system says a lot about their depth.

Perhaps the most intriguing of them all is Cijntje, a starting pitcher who throws with both arms. He was Seattle's first-round pick in last year's MLB Draft and has yet to make his pro debut, but scouts are salivating over the potential this kid has. He was a strikeout machine in college who's said to be a bit better pitching from the right side, but he's got the makings of being a unique weapon for the Mariners in the not-so-distant future.

So many of the Mariners' youngest and brightest stars will all be opening the season at the same minor league affiliate. The argument can be made that their games are going to be on the same level of must-watch-TV as the big league squad.