The 2024 season was quite good for the Seattle Mariners farm system.
Watch: Seattle Mariners top talent celebrates unforgettable home debut in Everett
Throughout the year, numerous promising talents appeared in numerous top 100 lists, including some newcomers who achieved promising talent status for the first time.
MLB Pipeline recently updated its top-100 list to include players selected in this year’s MLB Draft. None of the Mariners’ 2024 draftees made the top 100, but the organization has one of its highest-rated undrafted prospects debuting in the top 100 this year.
Outfielder Lazaro Montes was ranked 48th, sixth among the 31 players who made their first appearance in Pipeline’s Top 100 this season. The 19-year-old from Havana, Cuba, is the third-best prospect in the Mariners’ system and one of six players in the league’s top 100. His power of 65 is the best among Seattle’s prospects.
Montes made his minor league debut in the Dominican Summer League after signing as an international free agent in 2022. Last season, he was promoted to the Arizona Complex League and then to Low-A Modesto, where he posted a .303/.440/.560 batting average with a 1.000 OPS in 70 total minor league games.
The hard-hitting left-hander continued his torrid pace in Modesto earlier this season with a .321/.429/.565 slash average and 28 extra-base hits in 65 games. As a result, he was promoted to High-A Everett on June 25.
After a strong first week to end June, Montes struggled mightily for the AquaSox in July, batting just .127 with a .141 slugging percentage and just one extra-base hit, a somewhat troubling sign for a junior who relies heavily on his bat. But he turned things around in August, batting .372 with a .558 slugging percentage and four extra-base hits in 11 games through Thursday, including a home run on Wednesday night.
Montes is expected to move up to the major leagues in 2026.
Draft picks for 2024 crack M’s top 30
Three of the Mariners’ 2024 draft picks were among the organization’s top 30 for the first time. Here are the players who made the list:
• 7. Switch pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje (first round, No. 15 overall)
• 8. Right-handed pitcher Rylan Sloan (second round, No. 55 overall)
• 25. Catcher Josh Caron (fourth round, No. 121 overall)
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