Mariners expecting quick impact from top prospect Emerson

SEATTLE -- Colt Emerson’s rapid rise through the Minor League ranks was the most eye-opening aspect to his 2025 season. But it was the makeup that he exhibited upon being invited to Seattle’s postseason taxi squad that stood out even more among the club’s front office.

Emerson, all of just 20 years old, took part in the two scrimmages in the leadup to the Mariners’ American League Division Series against the Tigers, then was an emergency injury reserve.

The chances of him actually playing in October were virtually zero -- there were other taxi-squad infielders who would’ve been selected first, not to mention the pressure of a would-be playoff debut. But that the club wanted him to soak in the experience, and that it also promoted him to Triple-A Tacoma for the season’s final week after Double-A Arkansas’ schedule ended, underscored how close he might be to The Show.

“Colt is a grown-up,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. “He was a grown-up when he was 17, and that much was evident when [former assistant general manager] Andy [McKay] met with him on their family farm, before we ever drafted him. We knew that about his makeup. If you've got that walking in the door, it certainly helps.”

Ranked as the Mariners’ No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 overall, Emerson is Seattle’s prospect to watch in 2026.

The club’s first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft also received multiple votes in Pipeline’s annual league-wide executive poll as being the best pure hitter in the Minors. But he’s also shown the athleticism to stick at shortstop longer term, if the club goes in a different direction when J.P. Crawford’s contract expires after next season.

Yet shortstop is not the position that Emerson will get the most reps at in Spring Training, as he’s expected to enter camp with the chance to win the third-base job. Those plans -- which also include plus-defender Ben Williamson -- are written in pencil and hinge on what other additions the club makes this offseason. Seattle is still in the market for an impact infield bat, and potentially could allocate that player’s reps at the hot corner.

But if it’s not Opening Day, Emerson will nonetheless impact the big league club next season -- which for a team looking to repeat as American League West champions suggests how much the front office thinks of him.

“Just to see the way these guys go about business and the looseness -- even though it's the playoffs -- like, it's just so cool,” Emerson said in October. “And it's going to help me in the future years.”

Moreover, Emerson will get a more extended look than a “normal” Spring Training, as the Mariners anticipate as many as a dozen players departing for the World Baseball Classic, which takes place from March 4-17. That will open the door to far more Cactus League at-bats for the rest of the roster, but especially a player that they’d like to put a more extended eye on.

Other position players that will fall into this bucket are outfielders Lazaro Montes (No. 3 prospect), Jonny Farmelo (No. 6) and Tai Peete (No. 11), shortstop Felnin Celesten (No. 8) and catcher Luke Stevenson (No. 9).

“He was going to get it anyway,” Dipoto said, “but pretty excited. ... I don't think it's going to be a two-week cameo in Spring Training and then head back and prepare for your season, like is often the case with some of the younger players. They might be in Spring Training camp from post to post, and that's a real benefit.”

Emerson climbed three Minor League affiliates last season, over which he slashed .285/.383/.458 (.841 OPS) with 16 homers, 28 doubles, six triples, 14 stolen bases and 78 RBIs over 600 plate appearances. He also played in 130 games, by far a career high for a player just two-plus years removed from high school.

Emerson was also named the Mariners’ Alvin Davis “Mr. Mariner” Award winner, named after the club’s Hall of Famer for the Minor Leaguer who best displays “exemplary play and leadership skills both on and off the field.”

“A special makeup guy,” Dipoto said. “And I'd like to tell you that the transition will be no problem for him. But there are very few players that come in and don't fall down and have to get back up and scrape their knee, or whatever it is. It’s a hard transition to make, and the delta between Triple-A and the big leagues has never been bigger.”