Seattle Mariners Scouting Exec Scott Hunter Shares Thoughts After Day 1 of MLB Draft
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SEATTLE — "Best case scenario" were the words used by Seattle Mariners vice president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter to describe Day 1 of the 2025 MLB Draft.
The Mariners selected Louisiana State (LSU) left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson with the No. 3 pick in the draft. The club followed that by selecting power-hitting catcher Luke Stevenson (North Carolina) with the No. 35 pick. The M's took 6-foot-4, 190-pound high school shortstop Nate Becker with the No. 57 pick and right-handed pitcher Griffin Hugus out of Miami with the No. 91 pick.
Anderson was the No. 1 player on Seattle's board. The club signed him for $8.8 million — $700,000 below slot value. That small savings allowed the Mariners to take Becker, who was committed to Virginia, and is expected to be signed above slot value. Becker was a part of a run of high school shortstops taken in the first two rounds of the draft. Seattle had a high grade on him and was comfortable paying him above the value of the draft pick with the early savings, similar to what it did with right-handed pitcher Ryan Sloan in the second round of the 2024 draft.
"When we saw Nick slipping a little bit, we thought 'OK, we'll just keep an eye on him,'" Mariners vice president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said after Day 1 of the draft Sunday. " ... You just kind of monitor situations, see how things start to develop, see what kind of financial capital we can save. And when we got to the second round, it looked like this was the time to at least make the effort to go get him. And we were fortunate to work something out."
2.57 Mariners select Nick Becker SS Don Bosco Prep (NY)
— Perfect Game Draft (@PG_Draft) July 14, 2025
Strong bat to ball. Projectable power as frame adds strength. Confident actions on the dirt#PGDraft #MLBDraft #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/XeMQDhc9EP
Seattle has made it something of an annual tradition to draft player considered a "reach" by many analysts, often times a player highlighted by someone in the scouting department as a "gut-feel" prospect. All-Star starting pitcher Bryan Woo was that player in the 2021 draft and the M's picked him in the sixth round. The Mariners might have found that player with Hugus in the third round.
Hugus began his college career as a two-way player at Cincinnati and played one season as a reliever and infielder before transitioning to the bullpen full-time in 2024. Hugus transferred to Miami before this past season and was moved to the Hurricanes' starting rotation. He posted a 4.16 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 93 innings pitched across 17 starts. He was ranked the No. 169 prospect in the draft by MLB Pipeline. Hugus' development is something the Mariners were high on, and it also allowed them financial flexibility for the rest of the draft after going over-slot on Becker.
"Obviously had a really good year in the ACC," Hunter said. "We think (Hugus) is on the upswing, and a lot of our player development guys and our information from our high performance — as well as Bobby Korecky, who pitched in the big leagues. This was his gut-feel player pretty much all year. He wanted to keep us reminded that he was a guy we could over-draft a little bit if we needed to. Obviously the top of the draft, spending quite a bit of money in the second round, we had to get a little bit back on track and we just looked for an opportunity with a player we thought had major league value."
The final out from Griffin Hugus’ complete game versus Columbia in the Hattiesburg regional 🙌 pic.twitter.com/F9Rq9YbORv
— Sebastian Font (@S_Font_Sports) June 1, 2025
Seattle had one of the best Day 1's of any team in the draft. They were listed as "winners" according to CBS Sports. The Mariners still have 17 more rounds to go through (Rounds 4-20 of the draft starts at 8:30 a.m. PT on Monday on MLB.com), but if the first day is any indication, this could be one of the better draft classes for the current Seattle regime.
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MARINERS DRAFT NORTH CAROLINA CATCHER LUKE STEVENSON WITH NO. 35 PICK: The Mariners took Tar Heels backstop with their competitive balance round 'A' draft selection. CLICK HERE
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