The Athletic’s new MLB prospect ranks could blindside even true Mariners believers

We've been keeping a close eye on Felnin Celesten of late, as he continues to take his game to new heights. He went on a 25-game hitting streak which was within three of the all-time Northwest League record, and he's now moving up the prospect rankings. However, as good as he's been, does anyone have him as the No. 17 prospect in Major League Baseball?

Well, that's exactly where The Athletic's Keith Law has placed Celesten in his updated top prospect rankings. The 20-year-old has quite rightly reclaimed a spot in the top 100 rankings in general (with MLB Pipeline putting him at No. 100), but No. 17 seems excessive. And yet this faith is nothing new by Law, who ranked him No. 77 at the start of this year.

To be clear, we're not complaining about Law putting Celesten so high, it's just surprising. And yet you can make the case the shortstop is just living up to the potential which convinced the Mariners to sign him to the largest ever bonus in franchise history for an international player. Law raves about his ability to hit well from both sides of the plate, with someone having seemingly lit a fire under him following a disappointing 2025 season.

Felnin Celesten is seemingly over last year's adversity

In defense of Celesten, he's dealt with injury issues and last year even missed playing time due to suffering from vertigo-like symptoms. As such, it makes sense his form would suffer to an extent, but now he's back and more dangerous than ever. May was a truly sensational month for him as he produced a .352/.460/.538 slash line, .999 OPS and 164 wRC+ in 25 games.

For the season as a whole, Celesten has a .319/.423/.470 slash line, .893 OPS and 136 wRC+ in 46 games. Among all qualifying hitters in the Northwest League he's first in OBP, as well as second in batting average and OPS. Oh, and let's not forget about his elite defensive play.

The reality is Celesten has already done enough to be promoted, with the only thing stopping him is the Mariners' preference for prospects to play at least 100 games in High-A Everett. However, as much as he only has 57 appearances to date, he's already proven to be more consistent that the likes of Emerson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo.

A mixed bag for Mariners prospects in Keith Law's latest rankings

On the subject of Montes and Arroyo, it's interesting to note neither are in Law's latest prospect rankings. And even though he only published an updated top 50, keep in mind the duo are at No. 29 and 47 respectively in MLB Pipeline's top 100 list. The Athletic's senior baseball writer has clearly been unimpressed with their form this season in Double-A Arkansas.

Not that Law is anti-Mariners or anything of that ilk, with him placing Kade Anderson at No. 4 and Ryan Sloan all the way up at No. 8. This can only increase the excitement for the future of a rotation which is already among the very best in the majors. And for what it's worth, Law said he would have included Luke Stevenson if he'd extended his latest list to a top 100.

Overall though, the focus is on Law being well and truly back on the Celesten bandwagon, even though we'd argue he's always maintained more faith in him than a lot of people. Again, we do think ranking him 17th is excessive, but we aren't going to argue too much about this. The Mariners had enough belief in his talent to sign him for $4.7 million in the first place, and now he's really beginning to repay this faith.

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