Yet another new top 100 prospect has Mariners' future looking even brighter

Heading into the start of this season, the general consensus was that the promise and potential of the Seattle Mariners' farm system was far more exciting than what the current big league roster could offer. Despite the major league team continuing to defy expectations, the younger minor league talent has still held up its end of the bargain and Ryan Sloan is among those whose stock is rising.

A few days ago, all of the rookies who managed to make the Opening Day rosters for their respective teams exceeded the rookie threshold and thus graduated from MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list. Notable names like Kristian Campbell, Cam Smith, and Roki Sasaki lost their prospect status, clearing the way for Sloan, a right-handed pitcher, to find himself on the prestigious list for the first time.

Ryan Sloan was recently elevated to MLB Pipeline's 96th overall prospect

Since being selected in the second round of last year's draft, Sloan has been outstanding as a starter for Single-A Modesto. Over his first six starts, he has a 3.54 ERA with a WHIP of 1.28. His strikeout rate of 26.7 percent paired with a walk rate of just 8.1 percent and zero home runs allowed gives him an impressive FIP of 3.11.

Despite being a second-round pick, it seems that the Mariners already knew that he was something special given how his $3 million bonus was far over the value of his given slot. For being the 55th overall pick, the estimated value of that pick was just $1.6 million. In fact, the nearly $8 million that Seattle spent to sign Sloan and Jurrangelo Cijntje was more than the organization had spent on two picks in quite some time.

Still, it seems like getting Sloan in the second round at all was a steal. On top of the success that he's already finding in his burgeoning professional career, he's just 19 years old and has plenty of time to develop.

He's currently projected to get called up in 2028, conveniently when Logan Gilbert is set to hit free agency — that is, unless the team manages to keep him around — but he could be pushed even sooner. After all, Bryan Woo was called up during his second year of minor league baseball and he has been an integral part of the rotation ever since.

Still, despite pitching just 69.1 total innings for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Woo did spend three years on a Division 1 baseball team while Sloan was drafted out of high school, so the Mariners could take more time to make sure he progresses in a sustainable way that maximizes his natural potential.

Whether he gets called up tomorrow or several years from now, he's already made a strong case for his starts being must-see TV in the meantime.