Mariners Prospect Spotlight: Dominic Canzone

We’re past the 2023 Major League Baseball trade deadline, and the overwhelming response of Mariner fans seems to be ‘meh.’ They picked up a recently designated for assignment reliever (Eduard Bazard) from Baltimore and sent a closer and overall loveable guy, Paul Sewald, to Arizona. The return for Sewald, one of the better high-leverage relief arms in the league, was infielder Ryan Bliss, utilityman Josh Rosas, and outfielder Dominic Canzone. This week's spotlight is on the lefty swinging, Canzone.

The headliner of the trade is more than likely Canzone, who slots into the Mariners’ top 30 prospects (13). Canzone starred at the Ohio State University, authoring an impressive slash line (.337/.409/.918) across three seasons. He broke a school record in his junior season by getting on base in 59 straight games.

Additionally, he performed well in the Cape Cod League, a barometer for the Mariner’s scouting department. The Diamondbacks drafted him in the eighth round in 2019, and he’d quickly rise the ladder using his advanced hit tool (50) and above-average in-game power.

Canzone would play all three outfielder spots and 19 games at the cold corner. He probably slots in right field for the remainder of the season and could see time spelling Ty France at first base and at designated hitter. Scouts gave the 25-year-old a 40 grade defensively (on an 80 scale). He’s probably a little better than that, but he won’t light the world on fire in the outfield grass. However, that's not why the Mariners traded for him.

The Diamondbacks called him up last month, and while the traditional stats don’t tell a great story, the advanced metrics do. Canzone has a 14.7-barrel rate, 106.2 maximum exit velocity, and a 47.1 hard-hit rate, which shows a player who frequently hits the ball with authority.

Mariners general manager Justin Hollander joined Seattle Sports 710 (Wyman and Bob) post-deadline and echoed what most scouts are saying Canzone is one of the better MILB hitters in the game before making his debut this year, and that he has a lot of metrics that are very good since debuting. Hollander (and Dipoto) could have landed a middle-of-the-order bat that’s a little older with room to grow. That sounds like former Diamondback and Mariner Mitch Haniger, and that worked out just fine.