Mariners get good news, bad news from Baseball America's new prospect rankings

One inescapable fact during Jerry Dipoto's tenure in Seattle has been the quality of the Mariners' farm system, with it consistently being ranked among the best in the majors. Heading into this season, MLB pipeline ranked it fifth and, as we recently wrote about, they had the most top 100 prospects in the game according to Baseball America.

Well, Mariners fans will be delighted to know that it's more of the same in Baseball America's latest full rankings update. The organization continues to lead the way with the most prospects in the top 100, ahead of the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox:

The eight Mariners and their rankings are as follows: Colt Emerson (17), Cole Young (53), Jonny Farmelo (57), Lazaro Montes (59), Michael Arroyo (71), Ryan Sloan (83), Felnin Celesten (84) and Jurrangelo Cijntje (92).

Best Mariners news involves Lazaro Montes

The most positive news relates to Montes, who saw the third-biggest rise among all prospects in the top 100 at 34 places from No. 93 to No. 59. Consider us among those not surprised with this development, with us recently writing about how he was taking "revenge" on Baseball America with his performance so far in 2025.

The physically imposing and powerful outfielder had entered the 2024 season in 41st place among all prospects by Baseball America, but subsequently experienced a precipitous drop down the rankings. Since then he's seemingly been on a mission to prove his critics wrong, although perhaps the slide down the rankings was also just what the Doctor ordered, for him to stop resting on his laurels and better tap into his potential.

Some concerns may remain about Montes' swing decisions, but he's been tremendous this season in High-A Everett with a .277 batting average and .986 OPS at the time of writing. Among the highlights which illustrate his revival at the plate, he took home Northwest League Player of the Week honors during April.

Not so positive for the Mariners when it comes to Harry Ford

Turning to the most notable piece of negative news for the Mariners, anyone paying attention will have noticed there was one glaring omission among the prospects we listed. We're referencing Harry Ford, who was previously ranked at number 91 by Baseball America but was one of 11 prospects to fall out of the top 100 altogether.

The main reason for Ford's drop is a growing concern about his power in Tacoma, which is understandable given he has just four extra-base hits through 25 games this season. In defense of the 22-year-old, this season is his first exposure to Triple A, but he still knows he needs to improve regardless.

The Mariners will be hoping Ford can respond in a similar manner to Montes and display more of the potential which saw him selected 12th overall in the 2021 draft. It's actually an important time for Ford's in general, with Cal Raleigh's extension leading to The Athletic's Jim Bowden to predict the M's could look to trade their young catching prospect.

Overall, it should be considered good times for Dipoto and the organization, who continue to excel at discovering and developing prospects and in turn receiving plenty of deserved praise from Baseball America. As a final note, let's not forget the Mariners also have the third pick and largest overall bonus pool for this year's MLB draft.

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