The Seattle Mariners have slowly been stockpiling talented young players over the last few years and now the evaluators are beginning to take notice.
Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com reports that three different Mariners players have been named to the AL West all-prospect team, as determined by general managers outside the division.
Two of the three M's players making the cut are starting pitchers. Danny Hultzen and Taijuan Walker are the two highest-ranked prospects for starters in the division and GMs seem to be particularly high on Walker.
"We love Taijuan Walker," the general manager interviewed for this story said. "We would probably take him at the top of the list of all those guys."
As for the best prospect at catcher in the AL West, it's really no contest. One of the latest Mariners acquisitions clocks in at number one in the position.
C: Jesus Montero (No. 12 on Top 100; Mariners' No. 1)
He's definitively the top prospect listed at this position, but the debate continues over whether he can actually stay behind the plate. Several teams think he'll be passable in a Javy Lopez/Mike Piazza way. The GM wasn't necessarily one of those people, though, and he's not alone. He'd likely take the A's Derek Norris if Montero wasn't a catcher.
For more on the Mariners and to discuss the club heading into Spring Training, head on over to Lookout Landing.