Mariners' spring training show stealer has a frustratingly unclear path to MLB

A record 9,956 people showed up to see the Seattle Mariners open their spring training slate at the Peoria Sports Complex on Friday. Presumably, most of them were there to see Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and other established stars in the lineup.

Instead, what they got was a reminder of the good news/bad news thing going on with Michael Arroyo.

On the good side, MLB Pipeline's No. 67 prospect brought the rake that has turned him into a productive minor leaguer. The righty swinger got the scoring started with a two-run homer to right-center in the bottom of the second and later added a hard-hit double to roughly the same spot.

As Dan Wilson put it after the M's wrapped up a 7-4 win over the San Diego Padres, via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com: "Arroyo kind of stole the show."

The bad news is more abstract. When a top prospect has a game like that while sharing a lineup with the big shots, it's only natural to question when and where his major league debut will take place. And on both accounts, Arroyo's situation is frustratingly unclear.

Michael Arroyo faces an uncertain path to the Mariners' everyday lineup

As for when Arroyo might be seen in Seattle, this is not a Colt Emerson situation. Whereas Opening Day is not out of the question for him, nobody has put that kind of timeline on Arroyo.

That's for good reason. Though Arroyo (21) is older than Emerson (20), only the latter has made it as far as Triple-A. Emerson has also proved himself as a gifted defensive shortstop who can also play second or third base, whereas Emerson is still finding his way in the field.

The Colombia native — and soon to be Team Colombia member at the World Baseball Classic — played some shortstop earlier in his pro career, but has since transitioned to second base. The keystone is historically a dumping ground for infielders who can't hack it at short or third, and enthusiasm for Arroyo's future there is muted, at best.

As Baseball America put it: "[Arroyo] has done well with his agility so far, but he’ll have to keep an eye on his body and arm to become an average defender there."

Other pathways are technically open. The M's plan to give Arroyo reps at third this spring. And during the winter, he played some left field in the Colombian Winter League, which seemed to open up his cleanest path to stardom with the Mariners.

However, the left field thing has not come up again since then. It's possible the idea has merely been temporarily tabled, but you also wonder if the Mariners didn't like what they saw from Arroyo's time in the outfield during the winter.

Either way, how he could fit into the team's plans is still a messy equation.

Emerson is the future at shortstop, while the team has high hopes for Cole Young to be the guy at second base for a long time. Brendan Donovan, who's controlled through 2027, can play second if Young can't pull out of his 2025 slump. Otherwise, the plan is for Donovan to play third.

With Randy Arozarena set for free agency after 2026, there is the possibility of moving Donovan to left field to make way for Arroyo on the infield. But since Donovan is more of a plus defender on the infield, well, that's where you run back into the problem with the apparent abandonment of the Arroyo-in-left experiment.

Arroyo can only control what he can control. And to that end, his main priority is making sure his bat remains his money-maker. It has thus far yielded a .408 OBP in the minors, and you can't fake oppo power like he showed on Friday.

It's the Mariners who have to figure out how best to work that bat into their plans. And while there's not yet any rush, something cleaner than "hope for the best" would be nice.