Marching on with the AL West, here is the Seattle Mariners.
Seattle Mariners
1S) Taijuan Walker, RHP, California HS: A tremendous athlete and basketball talent, Walker is raw as a pitcher but has a strong arm and great projectability. He will also need considerable development time.
2) Marcus Littlewood, SS, Utah HS: Doesn't have great tools, will probably move to second base, but a "baseball rat" type with a decent bat.
3) Ryne Stanek, RHP, Kansas HS: Could have been a first rounder if he'd gone to school in California or Florida. Can hit 95 MPH and quite projectable but needs work with secondary pitches and mechanics.
4) James Paxton, LHP, Grand Prairie: Should have signed last year with the Jays. Still interesting but not throwing as hard as he used to. Could be a bargain if he gets 94-95 heat back.
5) Stephen Pryor, RHP, Tennessee Tech: Big arm, can hit 97 and has promising slider, but command problems made him erratic and sometimes ineffective in college.
6) Christian Carmichael, C, Hawaii HS: Very good defensive catcher, bat is questionable.
7) Mickey Wiswall, 1B, Boston College: Produced big power in college, but not everyone thinks he'll do the same with wood.
8) Jabari Blash, OF, Miami-Dade JC: Outstanding tools, but college career marred by erratic behavior, was kicked off team in April. Could be bargain, could be rapid bust.
9) Luke Taylor, RHP, Washington HS: Very projectable arm, should be signable for home state team away from college at Hawaii.
10) Tyler Burgoon, RHP, University of Michigan: Undersized at 5-10, but hits 93 MPH and has a vicious breaking ball. Could move fast in relief role.
FOUR OTHERS OF NOTE: 11-Jon Keller, RHP, Iowa HS; 12-Stephen Romero, 3B, Oregon State; 17-Jordan Shipers, LHP, Missouri HS; 17-Danny Lopez, SS, University of Pittsburgh
COMMENT: The Mariners drafted several very interesting projectable arms in Walker, Stanek, and Taylor, but all of them will need a lot of development work. Littlewood strikes me as an overdraft by a round or three, but he has good makeup. Paxton could be great, but who knows? If he lives up to his potential, Blash could be the best of all, but that is a huge if. Overall, I'm not hugely impressed with this at first glance...there are a large number of questionmarks here, and the onus is now on the coaching staffs to make this work.
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