SEATTLE -- The Mariners were well represented at the very top of MLB Pipeline’s adjusted re-ranks to its Top 100 prospects list that were unveiled on Monday night.
Headlining that group was Kade Anderson, who climbed to No. 5 overall and is now listed as the top pitching prospect in baseball. He’s followed by infielder Colt Emerson (No. 6), who will soon graduate from the rankings now that he’s become an everyday big leaguer, and Double-A Arkansas rotation-mate Ryan Sloan (No. 9).
Since Pipeline began its Top 100 rankings back in 2004, only once before had any team had at least three players in the Top 10 at once -- the 2014 Cubs during the midseason re-ranks, which featured Kris Bryant, Javier Báez and Addison Russell, who all became key cogs to the team that snapped Chicago’s 108-year World Series drought two years later.
In that regard, the 2026 Mariners became just the second organization in the 23-year history of these rankings with at least three players listed that high. Seattle previously had two in the Top 10 at the same time, on the 2021 preseason list (Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodríguez) and the 2012 midseason list (Taijuan Walker and Danny Hultzen).
Speaking of Walker, he was the Mariners’ most recent -- and only -- player to be ranked as Pipeline’s top pitching prospect before Anderson took that recognition on Monday.
And it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Anderson has soared so high, given the run he’s been on at Arkansas and the pedigree he carried into his pro debut season as last year’s No. 3 overall pick in the MLB Draft.
Anderson has logged at least eight strikeouts in eight of his 13 starts for a season tally of 99. That’s the second most in all of the Minors, just one behind Seth Hernandez (Pirates No. 1/MLB No. 7), whom Anderson just passed in the Top 100 rankings. Anderson also ranks second in the entire Minors with a 1.22 ERA, behind only Anthony Eyanson’s 1.07 (Red Sox No. 2/MLB No. 56).
Sloan, who’s become good buddies with Anderson, hasn’t been quite as dominant with run suppression, carrying a 4.11 ERA -- but he has just as much upside and perhaps a higher-octane arm. Sloan has racked up 72 strikeouts this season (for a 30.3% K rate) and issued just 12 walks (5% BB rate). He’s in his second pro season, having been selected No. 55 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Also of note in Monday’s update, shortstop Felnin Celesten was tied for the third-highest jump of any player, moving from No. 96 to No. 76.
The athletic switch-hitter just hit for the cycle -- and in a seven-inning game -- in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Thursday for High-A Everett.
The success Celesten has found with Everett this year has been a complete 180-degree turn from the end of 2025. After a comparatively pedestrian campaign with Single-A Modesto that briefly knocked him off the Top 100 Prospects list, the shortstop went just 6-for-38 with 15 strikeouts following his promotion to the AquaSox.
But beyond the hits column, there were two key reasons to be optimistic -- Celesten slashed his ground-ball rate by almost 20% (64.9% in 2024 to 45% last year) and spent zero days on the injured list after being waylaid in his first two seasons.
Beyond Anderson, Emerson, Sloan and Celesten, the Mariners also have outfielder Lazaro Montes (No. 28), infielder/outfielder Michael Arroyo (No. 45) and outfielder Jonny Farmelo (No. 65) among the Top 100. That total of seven trails only the Dodgers, who have nine. But collectively, the Mariners have the most prospect points in the sport, which are tallied on a sliding scale (100 points for the No. 1 prospect, 99 for No. 2 and so on).
Monday’s update isn’t a full reset of the Top 100. That will come after the Draft and the signing deadline in August. Instead, these are adjustments to players up, down, on or off the board as Pipeline acknowledges that outlooks and statuses have changed since it revealed its preseason Top 100 back in January.
Here’s the process: Pipeline re-votes on the Top 15, move deserving players up or down 10 or more spots, remove some completely from the rankings and replace them with others they believe are now worthy of the list.
MLB Pipeline’s Jesse Borek contributed to the reporting of this story.