Keith Law of The Athletic puts 3 Mariners prospects in his top 100 ranking for 2024

It seems like every week, we are getting a big name updating and dropping their top 100 prospect rankings for 2024. Personally, I like the ones over at MLB Pipeline the most. I don't know if its the presentation of it, the communication you hear from them, or the fact that they have the top 30 for each team listed there as well. However, Keith Law at the Athletic (paywall) might be #2 on my list for the ones that I pay the most attention to.

Keith Law has 3 Mariners ranked in his top 100 prospects for 2024

He just dropped his on the morning of February 5th, giving us a nice little gift to kick off our week. I'm not getting into any of the discourse about who is ranked too high or too low throughout his list, but am instead focusing on just the Mariners players on his list, as would be expected of a site that is about the Mariners.

Most places have been fairly consistent with rankings, and you can expect to see them in the same range. Sure, there might be a bit of a variance, and some scouts and analysts might get a feel that others didn't, being reminded of a certain player that resonates strongly with them. We don't see anything crazy here from Law, although Ford is a bit lower, as we will get to later.

A quick note, the Mariners would've had four players on this list prior to the Jorge Polanco trade. Gabriel Gonzalez comes in at #96, giving the Twins four of their own prospects on the list. Let's get to the three Mariners that are on Law's top 100 for 2024.

#37 - Colt Emerson, 2B/SS, 10th ranked SS

We start off with Emerson. The common consensus here is that the Mariners ended up with a steal when they selected Emerson.

There’s always at least one guy from every draft who goes out for a month or so after signing and makes people ask why he wasn’t drafted higher... and Emerson certainly did that last summer

The swing and hit tool stand out, and they are rocketing Emerson up the prospect rankings. Although he might not end up at SS, he can definitely play second base, and the bat could get him there sooner than we previously expected.

His hit tool is definitely the one that defines him, and as Law points out, it's what caught everyone's attention during his short stints last season after being drafted. He went 15-28 in the Arizona Complex League (ACL), and was quickly moved to Modesto (A ball) where he would hit .302/.436/.444 with 4 steals and 6 doubles in just 16 games. There is a bit of power hidden inside of there too, Law thinks.

Before the draft, I said he had the upside of a “high-average, 15 to 20-homer sort of hitter at second base... pro scouts and analysts seem to agree with that after his pro debut, but with more confidence than I had pre-draft that he’ll get there.

#61 - Harry Ford, C, 5th ranked C

Without reading through each and every profile on Law's top-100, you glean from reading about Ford that he is likely one of the most confounding prospects to Law. Most of that is the same type of... concern may not be the right word, but it's the conversation around where Ford best fits in.

Is he a catcher? Law isn't sure because of the below-average receiving and blocking, but the bat would immediately play as a catcher.

Is he an infielder? You'd like to see a bit more power if that's the case.

Is he an outfielder? He's athletic enough, has the speed and arm, but again, you need to see more power.

He might be better off sacrificing some contact for more power, as he’s strong enough to at least be a 40 doubles/15 homers guy, but his swing is incredibly short to the ball and right now it’s below-average game power as a result.

It does sound like the power is there, but he's working on keeping his hands inside, but does it too often leading to a lack of power on pitches where it doesn't apply. Don't be fooled by the concerns listed so far, though, as Ford has an exceptional eye and control at the plate.

He may also hit his way off the position, as he shows elite strike zone judgment, ranking third in the minors in walks last year with 103 and striking out less than 20 percent of the time.

Ford still put together quite the impressive line at High-A last season, hitting .257/.410/.430, with 15 HR, 24 2B, and 24 SB, and he did that with a K rate of just 19.3%.

It seems like Ford would jump up a bit on Law's rankings if there was a more concrete answer for the type of player he was going to be, and where he was going to play. It's almost like he's the uber-athlete who is trying to figure it all out and just ended up at a position.

The Mariners are in a good position right now with their farm system, and it starts with these three players. We won't see any of them in 2024, but where they are at heading into next season will give us a better idea of who might be the first (Ford?) to make it to the big league level.