Which top Mariners prospects are their best trade chips?

Jul 4, 2025, 11:23 PM

Editor, Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners have themselves in position to put their well-stocked farm system to use ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. A big question, though, is which of their highly-ranked prospects could make the biggest impact on the trade market.

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Aram Leighton, the executive editor of Just Baseball and host of The Call Up, an MLB prospect podcast, has a pair of M’s prospects in mind.

Leighton recently joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk and was asked this by host Mike Salk: “If you are looking to make deals, are there players in this organization that you like, but if you have an opportunity to sell high right now, that’s probably the best outcome for you?”

Leighton pointed at outfielder Lazaro Montes, who was promoted late last month from High-A Everett to Double-A Arkansas, and shortstop Felnin Celesten, who is with Single-A Modesto.

Watch: Mariners prospect Lazaro Montes launches 475-foot HR

The 6-foot-5, 20-year-old Montes has prodigious power, but he’s a kind of player that’s tough to project because of concerns with his defense and ability to make contact. He’s frequently compared to Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, a fellow native of Cuba with a similar build, and that could help the M’s should they decide to shop Montes considering Alvarez was dealt for a reliever when he was still 19 in a trade that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has said he regrets.

“Laz Montes is a guy that’s gonna carry plenty of value that, you know, you’re not eager to move,” Leighton said. “… People talk about ‘Baby Yordan’ and stuff like that – you can see the power and how people can draw that from the left side, a big guy. But when you look at the contact rate, it’s just not necessarily close there. It’s a 66% overall contact rate for the season, which is not going to put him in a position where he’s hitting .270, .280 at the highest level.

“I think that’s a guy that you regret (trading) if he’s hitting 40-plus home runs, but I think it’s one where odds are you’re not gonna fully get burned on that the way that the Dodgers did with Yordan way back. I don’t think it’s gonna be one of those situations.”

More: There are two M’s prospects an insider wouldn’t want to trade

Montes is ranked No. 64 on Leighton’s list of the top 100 MLB prospects, which is fourth among Mariners farmhands. On MLB.com’s top 100, Montes is No. 29 overall and second among M’s prospects.

This just in…Lazaro Montes is good at baseball pic.twitter.com/xAlo1Wi1Zh

— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) June 20, 2025

Celesten, a 6-foot-1 switch-hitter, may have the highest ceiling of Seattle’s highly-ranked middle infield prospects, which also includes Colt Emerson, Cole Young and Michael Arroyo. Like Montes, concerns with his glove make him a player Leighton would consider trading.

“I look at a Felnin Celesten, it’s one that (a trade) could age poorly because he’s so young at 19 and so many things could change, but he’s not defending well,” he said. “I’ve been kind of disappointed to see that side of things back up. The impact is down this year, but the numbers are still OK and he still has a lot of shine and excitement from what he showed last year, from being a top (international free agent) guy that he could be a good piece to still sell high on.

“Everything I’m seeing right now, (Celesten) could be a guy that hits a bit of a snag when he gets to High-A and is still trying to work through some things. So it seems like he’s far off.”

Touch ‘em all, Felnin Celesten 🙌

The @Mariners’ No. 4 prospect raises his OPS vs. LHP to .865 for the Single-A @ModestoNuts: pic.twitter.com/zyrFAF4qnw

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 21, 2025

Celesten is the last of seven Mariners ranked in the top 100 by Leighton at No. 96 overall, and the fourth of nine M’s prospects on the MLB.com top 100 at No. 54.

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton in the video at the top of this post or audio player below. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.