Mariners set to strengthen a farm system weakness in international signing period

At a time when the offseason market has slowed to, well, whatever's slower than a crawl, Seattle Mariners fans could use some excitement. It's therefore a good idea to circle January 15, which is when MLB's international signing window will officially open.

The Mariners have $7,357,100 to play around with, which puts them in the second tier down from the top. It should be a means to add still more talent to a farm system that is still considered one of MLB's best even after the trade of Harry Ford.

Baseball America has the Mariners set to sign two outfielders out of the Dominican Republic

As for which international prospects the Mariners are lined up to sign, Ben Badler of Baseball America dropped an intel dump on Monday that has them set for two outfielders out of the Dominican Republic: 16-year-old Gregory Pio and 17-year-old Juan Rijo.

For MLB Pipeline, Rijo and Pio rank as the No. 12 and No. 32 talents, respectively, in this year's international draft class. They occupy different niches, with Pio standing out as a toolsy prospect with power and speed as his calling cards, and Rijo standing out more so for a bat that gets 60 grades for his hit and power tools.

Just as a reminder, these will be very long-term bets for the Mariners. To use another international signee as an example, they signed Lazaro Montes for $2.5 million back in 2022, and he has yet to even reach the Triple-A level. Even if he makes it to the majors this year, his four-year development timeline will still represent a best-case scenario.

Even still, it's OK to have a little excitement about the Mariners being ready to bring Pio and Rijo aboard. More young talent is never a bad thing, and they're going to add depth to an area where Seattle's farm system is relatively weak.

It's been rich in infielders (i.e., Colt Emerson and Cole Young and Ben Williamson before him) and pitchers (i.e., Kade Anderson, Ryan Sloan and Jurrangelo Cijntje), but it could use more outfield talent. The slugging Montes is the best the Mariners have down, and he could have a future DH profile. There's otherwise Jonny Farmelo, who has mostly been hurt since beginning his pro career in 2023.

The wild card is Michael Arroyo. He's technically a second baseman, but an experiment with using him in left field is already underway. Should it succeed, he could be the heir to Randy Arozarena. If it fails, he'll go back to being part of an infield logjam.

In any case, fingers will be crossed as soon as Pio and Rijo are part of the Mariners' system. With the right amount of luck, the Mariners could score a hit to rival when they signed a certain Julio Rodríguez all the way back in January of 2017.