Minor League Baseball

Seattle Mariners Cut Top Prospects From Big-League Spring Training, Re-Assign to MiLB Camp

Colt Emerson and Lazaro Montes certainly made impressions with the M's, but they'll go down to the minor league side of things as the roster whittles down.
Brady Farkas|
Seattle Mariners infielder Colt Emerson (85) hits a home run in the top of the ninth during a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park on March 8.
Seattle Mariners infielder Colt Emerson (85) hits a home run in the top of the ninth during a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park on March 8. | Allan Henry-Imagn Images

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Seattle Mariners

With just over two weeks to go until Opening Day, the Seattle Mariners are whittling down the roster at spring training.

After a handful of roster moves earlier this week, the M's made more notable cuts on Wednesday.

Per @MarinersPR

Spring Training Roster Moves:

Re-assigned to minor league camp:

Colt Emerson, INF
Austin Kitchen, LHP
Sauryn Lao, RHP
Casey Lawrence, RHP
Lazaro Montes, OF

The @Mariners Spring Training roster is now at 51 players (37 on 40-man + 1 60-day IL + 13 NRI)

Lawrence can be a valuable depth piece for the organization, but Emerson and Montes are the two biggest names on this list.

Emerson is the No. 20 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, while Montes is No. 42. Both players showed well in their taste of big-league spring training, with Emerson going 2-for-17 and Montes going 5-for-13 with two home runs. While Emerson's batting average is low, he hit the ball extremely hard, lacing a home run of his own in one of his final games.

Both players will be participating in the Spring Breakout game for the Mariners on Friday against the Cleveland Guardians top prospects and both could be fast risers through the M's system.

Emerson got as high as High-A Everett last season and figures to start there again in 2025, but once he gets to Double-A Arkansas, all bets are off. Montes played 51 games for Everett and also plans to start there again, though he should be in Arkansas soon enough.

He's just 20 years old. Emerson is 19.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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