Mariners will have decisions to make on four top prospects in ’27

Will Colt Emerson, Kade Anderson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo be on Seattle's 2027 opening day roster?

BY SEATTLESPORTS.COM STAFF

Oct 3, 2026, 9:16 AM Updated: 9:19 am

Follow on Google News

Watch: Mariners 2026 Season Review + What's Next? w/Shannon Drayer & Mike Salk | 30 mins

The Seattle Mariners saw their next wave of prospects hit the big leagues in 2026.

Mariners claim switch-hitting local product off waivers

Colt Emerson, Kade Anderson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo each made their MLB debuts this season, and each had varying levels of success in their first taste of the majors.

The 21-year-old Emerson had a strong start to his much-anticipated career. In his first 22 games, he slashed .233/.309/.575 with six homers, five doubles and a triple. But his remaining 47 games, he posted a .169/.214/.216 slash line with just three extra-base hits before having season-ending surgery on his wrist.

Anderson, 22, had a couple rocky outings early, but closed his year on a high note, tossing seven shutout innings in his penultimate start and 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his final outing before a line drive to the left forearm ended his night early.

The 21-year-old Montes showed off the otherworldly power he is known for, slugging a 474-foot home run that is the longest in T-Mobile Park history. He also showed the swing-and-miss issues that are part of his game with a 40.7% strikeout rate in his 59 plate appearances.

And Arroyo, 22, put together an impressive 15-game showing while slashing .371/.439/.514 with one homer, two doubles and nearly as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six).

Seattle Sports Mariners insider Shannon Drayer and co-host of Brock and Salk Mike Salk recently sat down for a wide-ranging discussion on the M’s, which included addressing the decisions the club will have to make with its top prospects next season. Below is a transcript of the conversation Drayer and Salk had about the Mariners’ young players expected to be in the mix for opening day roster spots in 2027. It has been edited for its clarity.

SALK: I’m excited about all four of those guys. I think there’s a lot to be excited about in different ways and in different for different reasons. I am curious how you work through that in a contending window next year. Like, is Michael Arroyo going to be everyday left fielder once Randy Arozarena departs? He might be really good at that job. It’s also one heck of a risk to take when you are hoping to get right back into contention next year. You gonna put Montes out there at the same time? That’s a lot of strikeouts. And as much as I love him – those four home runs, to me, were the four best parts of the whole season – he’s not a complete baseball player yet. I hope he ends up getting there.

Colt had some real ups and obviously some real downs. We don’t know how much of them were due to the injury. So, I am curious to see how they work through all of that… If I’m a new manager, I’m going to probably want some veterans around here to make sure everything’s working.

DRAYER: Yeah, but what’s available, too, is what you’re gonna have to look at. What’s available? And where can you put them? And that’s something that they’re going to have to figure out.

SALK: Without blocking some of those guys that you think are just about ready to have some real success.

DRAYER: Will one veteran and these guys be enough? Can you make them coexist? If you get rid of the platoons, maybe that would help a little bit too. You do have the flexibility with Donovan at this point. What are you doing with shortstop to start the season? You’re going to need a shortstop there. I don’t think you start Colt Emerson after finishing the season coming off of a surgery, and he had basically been sent down before that surgery. So, you need to give him a chance to get up and running.

What I will say about all of that, though, is I like what I saw from the rookies with the exception of Emerson and the injury… I liked what I saw from them and how they went about their work, their business. They were comfortable where they were at, but not in a way where they’re being lazy or they’re doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. They ‘fit in’ would probably be a better way to say that right there. So, if they wanted to go with all four of them,… I think that they would be OK. But, again, you have to have back up if they crash as young players do.

SALK: And you better get a better year from Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor, and you got to have a healthy Brendan Donovan, or else it just is not going to work. That’s just too much youth.