Overview of the non-roster players invited by the Seattle Mariners to Spring Training
By Berlin Kofoed, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The non-roster invitees for the Seattle Mariners have finally been released, and it’s quite the eclectic group of 31 guys. The bulk of the invitees are right-handed pitchers, with infielders and catchers as a distant second and third place. While there are some familiar faces, there are also a handful of new (to us) players that haven’t had any MLB or MiLB time in a couple of years that got an invite. Six of thSeattle’s Top 10 Prospects also received an invitation: INF Colt Emerson (No. 1), INF Cole Young (No. 2), INF Michael Arroyo (No. 4), C Harry Ford (No. 6), OF Lazaro Montes (No. 7), and RHP Logan Evans (No. 8).
The caliber of the 2024 farm-system teams continued to be strong, with only the High-A Everett AquaSox falling out of a possible championship appearance after they fell to 4th place in the NW League standings. The Low-A Modesto Nuts took home their 2nd straight Cal League title in a 2-1 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres affiliate). The Double-A Arkansas Travelers walked it off for their first Texas League title win since 2008, narrowly beating the Midlands RockHounds (Athletics affiliate). Despite a strong record, the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers did not have a postseason appearance, losing the playoff chance to the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers affiliate).
The Pitchers!
Right handed pitchers Luis F. Castillo (yes, Mariners are nothing if not consistent) and Neftali Feliz were signed right as the invites were announced, and they are interesting choices. Castillo hasn’t played professionally since 2022, where he spent a season with the Detroit Tigers and, more consistently, their minor league team, the Toledo Mudhens. He appeared in 43 games, managing an ERA of 1.61 overall in the minor leagues, striking out 42 batters through 44.2 innings. Those are some pretty impressive numbers, but it’s a bit of a mystery what sort of conditioning he might have kept up with in the meantime between leaving the Tigers organization and getting first signed with the Dominican Winter League team Aguilas Cibaenas, and then with the Mariners.
Feliz is even more interesting. At age 36, he has not played with the MLB or MiLB since he elected free agency in 2021. A bit of a journeyman during his time in the league, his final stop before signing in the Dominican Republic was with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. It was between 2015 and 2017 that Feliz played the majority of his major league games, but he also had appearances at the start of the 2010’s, and he kept a pretty steady ERA right around 3.00. He definitely started drifting higher towards the end of his MLB appearances, but it looks like he dropped it right back down in the minors. Signing on a pitcher that hasn’t played in the MLB or MiLB in a couple of years is a very strange move, and it’ll be interesting to see what the pitching lab or the Mariners coaching staff are planning to do with him.
Joining Feliz and Castillo as new names, at least amongst the Mariners organization, for pitchers are Austin Kitchen, Shintaro Fujinami, Sauryn Lao, Adonis Medina, Dauris Valdez, and Drew Pomeranz. Jesse Hahn had elected free agency from the Tacoma Rainiers in November of 2024, but just 2 weeks later signed once again with the organization and went right back to Tacoma. All of these players are currently assigned with the Tacoma Rainiers, but after Spring Training, they’ll most likely be reassigned to a team depending on how strong the pitching staff feels like they are performing.
Let’s get introduced to these new to the organization pitchers.
Austin Kitchen - Claimed off of waivers in September, Kitchen comes to the organization from the Miami Marlins and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Through 37 games on 4 different MiLB teams in 2024, Kitchen kept an ERA of 3.78, earning 8 wins and 1 loss. From 52 successful hits, there were only 25 runs, 22 of those being earned by him. Across those games, he racked up 33 strikeouts and 15 walks, which is a great balance. There were only 4 games with Tacoma at the end of the season, so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs with more time to settle in with the team.
Shintaro Fujinami - Like Feliz and Castillo, Fujinami was assigned to Tacoma as all of the invites went out, but he played with the MiLB more recently than the others. After electing free agency from the New York Mets organization, he spent time with the Gigantes de Carolina, a team with the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. Fujinami spent a lot of time with the Athletic’s and Baltimore Orioles in 2023, playing a total of 64 games with a combined ERA of 7.18. In 2024, he spent most of the season rehabbing an injury, and only played a total of 33 games in 4 different Mets affiliate teams. The majority of that was with the Syracuse Mets, where he ended with a 6.68 ERA through 29 games, which might be a sign that he’s still working to get back to a comfortable routine post-injury. Hopefully rehabbed and healed going into 2025, there’s a chance for him to build up his arm and show his strength going into his age 30 season.
Sauryn Lao - Lao, a potential future first baseman for the Mariners (something we’re in need of lately), comes to the organization from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization after he elected free agency in November 2024. He hasn’t yet made his major league debut, but he pitched in 40 games between the Dodgers’ Double-A and Triple-A teams in 2024, maintaining a combined ERA of 3.74 over a total of 53.0 innings, along with 5 holds and 2 saves. His numbers struggled a bit going from Double-A to Triple-A, which is honestly not surprising given how strong the batters are in the Pacific Coast League. Maybe some more time in that same league, but this time with Tacoma, will show what he really has to bring to the table.
Adonis Medina - Medina got his start with the Philadelphia Phillies on a minor league contract in May of 2014, and he’s journeyed through many teams in that time. Making his MLB debut in 2020, he’s played a total of 19 games in 3 seasons, with an ERA of 5.35, 1 win, and 1 loss. In 2024, though, he played solely with the Washington Nationals Triple-A affiliate team, the Rochester Red Wings. He had a few stints on the IL, managing to only get some play in 49 total games as a relief pitcher. He ended with a 3.76 ERA, striking out 60 batters and allowing only 26 total walks. Much like Fujinami, hopefully the upcoming season will allow Medina to get more games under his belt in Tacoma, maybe even making his debut with the Mariners if he shows that he can keep up well enough.
Dauris Valdez - Valdez was signed from free agency to the organization in December 2024 and, much like several discussed already, he hasn’t played in the MLB or MiLB since 2022. Even then, he only played in 2 games in 2022 and 11 games in 2021. At 29 years of age, there aren’t many stats to speak of in the MLB/MiLB, but he has an overall Minors Career (since 2016, with 135 games) of 4.34. In 2021, there were dips in his numbers, but it’s hard to really blame him with so few games. Outside of that year, he tends to stick around a 3.50-4.00 ERA and a WHIP of 1.14-1.50, which shows that he has some consistency if he’s able to get a good rotation going for his appearances.
Drew Pomeranz - After electing free agency from the San Francisco Giants organization, Pomeranz signed a minor league contract with the Mariners in December 2024. Injuries have plagued his last few years, managing only 20 games in the last 3 seasons. He spent a couple of years with the San Diego Padres, putting together 47 games in 2 seasons, and his stats in those years were fantastic. He had an ERA of 1.45 and 1.75, striking out 29-30 batters, and barely allowing any hits. It would be awesome to see him get a solid bounce back this season, but at 36 years old, it’s tough to know how he’ll be able to perform with a regular workload.
In addition to these new (to us) names, there are many pitchers that have made themselves known within the organization. Casey Lawrence is the only pitcher returning with an invite from 2024, and at age 37, Lawrence has been journeying through mostly the minor leagues since 2010, with a total of 59 MLB games across 4 different seasons. New pitchers that have been stunning with their teams are Brandyn Garcia, Tyler Cleveland, Logan Evans, and Peyton Alford. Garcia and Cleveland both earned mid-season promotions, and Alford and Evans both stayed locked down with the Mariners pitching-focused Double-A team.
Josh Fleming pitched with Tacoma for 19 games in 2024, but he came to the organization midway through the season from the Pittsburgh Pirates after he elected free agency. Those 19 games left him with a 4.50 ERA, but definitely with some room to improve if he can get his control focused. The Mariners Round 3 pick from 2024, Hunter Cranton, also earned himself an invite after ending in Modesto with a 3.24 ERA across 9 games.
The Catchers!
Unsurprisingly, Harry Ford, the Mariners round one draft pick in 2021, was once more given an invitation after he spent his 2024 season in Double-A with the Arkansas Travelers. Ford kept up his campaign of stealing bases, being successful 35 times out of 44, and ended the season with a batting average of .249. There are four catchers joining him for their first time with the organization, but only two of them have spent some time playing with the Mariners organization, while the other two are new to us.
Josh Caron - Charon was the Round 4 draft for the Seattle Mariners in 2024 and he went directly to the low-A Modesto Nuts to help them with the remainder of the season. Through his 13 games and 47 AB, Caron finished out with an AVG of .277, getting only a single home run, but 10 RBI from 13 hits. It was definitely a promising peek of what might be coming from Caron from the batting side of things, and when flipping over to how he handled being behind the plate, there’s also promise. In his 12 games as Catcher, he had 113 PO, 3 DP, and a FPCT of .975, which honestly could get him a mid-season promotion in 2025 if he keeps that up and if the need for a catcher arises higher up.
Connor Charping - Charping was signed to a minor league contract as a free agent in July of 2022, immediately going into the Mariners organization. In 2024, he started off with the Modesto Nuts, but worked hard to earn a promotion to Everett. Charping slotted in fairly well, with his AVG dropping a bit overall but still keeping up with the rest of the team. Behind the plate, working solely as a catcher and not as a DH all season, Charping had a FPCT of .992 in Modesto and .991 in Everett. His numbers are nearly identical between the two teams, if you take into account that he played half as many games in Everett, and they’re pretty strong and consistent numbers. Through a total of 67 games, he only had 6 errors and 2 passed balls. Charping, being older and more experienced than Charon, stands a pretty solid chance at starting in Arkansas if they have the space for a new catcher, and hopefully can continue to show the same strength he’s been showing since 2022 as he enters his year 25 season.
Jacob Nottingham - Nottingham was a round 6 2013 draft pick for the Houston Astros, but has journeyed through many rosters in those 11 seasons. Between 2013-2023, he played in the MiLB and MLB, and spent last season in the Mexican League on the Charros de Jalisco. Now returning to the MiLB on a minor league contract with the Arkansas Travelers, it’ll be interesting to see just what he has to bring to the organization. Nottingham might be a familiar name to Mariners fans, as he made a 10 game appearance with the team in 2021, where he had a .115 AVG with 12 SO and 3 hits. Definitely not the most impressive stats, but his minor league career has been stronger, which is probably why the Mariners were interested in bringing him back. He only has 33 games played in the Triple-A division in 2023, where he ended with an overall FPCT of .985. He’s heading into his year 29 season, and it’s definitely going to be interesting where the Mariners decide to place him when the season actually starts up.
Nick Raposo - Raposo was signed from free agency to a minor league contract by the St. Louis Cardinals in June of 2020, and has spent most of his career in that organization. In August of 2024, he was claimed off of waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays, but they DFA’d him in December, when the Seattle Mariners claimed him. After going unclaimed when the Mariners DFA’d him, he was outrighted to the Tacoma Rainiers. Raposo is another catcher that is a bit of a question mark about where he’s going to be when the season actually begins. Raposo is a bit of a mid-level batter, getting an AVG of .206 through 78 games in the 24 season, which was divided between the Memphis Redbirds and the Buffalo Bisons. He had a total of 59 SO through 253 AB with 26 runs and 33 RBI. In earlier seasons, he was showing a bit more hitting strength, so the signs are there that he can be a solid batter to add into a lineup. In 15 games with Buffalo, though, he had a perfect FPCT as catcher, and a .994 through 58 games with Memphis. His strength in catching might be why he was claimed, but Spring Training is going to help decide where Raposo will go once the season begins.
The Infielders!
When it comes to positions that the Mariners definitely need in their arsenal, it’s infielders, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that they invited 6 players.. The only two players that got an invite this year and in 2024 are Brock Rodden and Cole Young, which is absolutely not surprising.
Rodden was drafted in 2023 by the Seattle Mariners in round 5, and he quickly rose through the organization in those two seasons. He started off the 2024 season in Everett but, after 67 games, he got promoted to Arkansas, where he fell off a bit but still continued to steadily get hits and only got stronger. His main post is 2B, where he had a combined FPCT of .978 over 88 games there. He’s also shown promise at 3B, where he had a .960 and only 2 total errors through 18 games. If he can get his bat back under control like he was earlier in Everett against the stronger pitchers in Double A, he’s absolutely going to become a force to be reckoned with.
The current number 2 Seattle prospect, Cole Young, is already showing more and more strength since he was drafted in 2022. Young was the round 1 draft for the Mariners, the 21st overall draft, and he’s already spent an entire season with the Double-A team. As mentioned before, the pitching strength in double-A is something that often catches new batters off guard, but it barely impacted Young. He ended 2023 with an overall AVG of .277, and finished 2024 with an AVG of .271, taking just the smallest of hits between the two seasons. He’s mostly been placed at SS, but also played a good chunk of games at 2B, where he had a FPCT of .970 and .993 respectively. Getting more time at 2B, probably with the Tacoma Rainiers for a season, would be an asset to him before making his Mariners debut.
Aside from those two making another appearance, there are a few new names that were selected for 2025, and it definitely is not a surprising list given who the Mariners have in their farm system at the moment.
Colt Emerson - The current number 1 Mariners prospect, Emerson was drafted in 2023 in round 1 by the Seattle Mariners, the 22nd overall pick, and even at age 19, he’s proven that, much like Young, he is living up to that Round 1 potential. His 2024 season started off a bit slow, as he dealt with a little bit of an injury and rehab with the ACL Mariners. He didn’t start back with Modesto until June 29, and he was there for 40 games before he got promoted to Everett in early August for another 29 games. Emerson was slow to get going in Everett, ending his season there with a .225 AVG, but it did seem like things were starting to pick up for him the more familiar he grew. Emerson has mostly been played as a shortstop, but he got some time at 3B in the 2024 season so he could possibly diversify his fielding toolkit. However, shortstop is definitely his strongest position based on error and FPCT. Hopefully he can get some extra time at 3B, because there are a few shortstops in the Mariners organization pipeline, and not a current need for a new one to take over.
Michael Arroyo - Arroyo was signed to a minor league contract by the Mariners in January of 2022, and he went to the DSL Mariners. After working hard to rise up through the organization, Arroyo was promoted to Everett part of the way through the 2024 season, where he finished off the season. While some of the players that got that mid-season promotion had a bit of a hiccup in performance while they adjusted, Arroyo came out even stronger. His AVG in Modesto when he left was .279 through 60 games, and after another 60 games with Everett, he had an AVG of .290, with a total of 23 home runs and 89 RBI. He had 485 AB, but only struck out 136 total times. The majority of his games were played at 2B, which is definitely a powerful place for Arroyo to get practice since the infield is where the Mariners have been struggling the most recently. He had a total FPCT of .951 there, with 52 DP and 178 PO, which are clearly not the best numbers but something that can definitely be worked on, given how strong Arroyo is with a bat.
Ben Williamson - Williamson was a part of the 2023 draft, signed by the Seattle Mariners in round 2. He only played 12 games with the organization in that year, but he quickly rose through the teams, without showing much sign of slowing down. Williamson only needed 10 games in Modesto to round out the year to earn himself an off-season promotion, starting off 2024 in Everett. However, after 29 games, Williamson was on the move again, finishing off the 2024 season in Arkansas and ending there with an AVG of .272. The majority of his games were played at 3B, with a whopping 825.1 innings and a .960 FPCT. Williamson has also gotten some work at SS and 2B, making him a pretty strong utility player for the Mariners to keep an eye on. He’s almost certainly going to get another off-season promotion to Tacoma, given his strength behind the plate, and might get his major league debut in 2025.
Nick Dunn - Dunn was a part of the 2018 draft, getting signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in their 5th round, and he’s spent his entire career so far in the minor league. After being released from the Memphis Redbirds in September of 2024, the Mariners signed him to a minor league contract, assigning him to Tacoma. He spent the entire 2024 season with the Memphis Redbirds, where he ended with an AVG of .316 over 98 games. Through his 323 AB, he struck out 33 times, got 102 hits, and earned 42 RBI. Clearly, he’s got some strength at the plate, because his career AVG currently sits at .280, with it steadily increasing over the years. While he’s gotten some time at 3B and 2B, he also spends a fair amount of time as the DH. Over the seasons, 2B has been his strongest position, with a career FPCT of .975, and that might be where the Mariners are hoping to put him going forward.
The Outfielders!
Given the current roster for the Mariners, it isn’t too much of a shock that they didn’t invite a ton of guys from the outfield on a non-roster invitation, but they did invite some very entertaining players to watch.
The only player repeating from 2024 to 2025 on the outfield roster is Spencer Packard and it isn’t surprising to see him with an invitation once again. Packard was a part of the 2021 draft, selected in round 9 by the Mariners, and he’s been a solid player over the years. After spending the entire 2023 season with Arkansas and ending with an AVG of .292, he earned a promotion halfway through 2024 to Tacoma where he continued to show his strength. Through his 154 AB in Tacoma, he only struck out 26 times, getting 19 walks and 28 RBI from 43 hits, earning himself an AVG of .279. When it comes to his field work, he spent the most time in LF in 2024, but both Arkansas and Tacoma gave him a little bit of time at 1B, since he’s done a bit of infield work here and there over the years. While he definitely shines stronger in the OF (with a FPCT of 1.000 in LF through 57 games), having the ability to come infield definitely gives him the bit of diversity the Mariners need if they are thinking about possibly giving him that promotion in the upcoming season.
Lazaro Montes - Montes was signed to a minor league contract with the Mariners in January of 2022, and was assigned shortly after to the DSL Mariners. He’s pretty quickly risen through the organization, ending 2023 in Modesto and getting a promotion halfway through 2024 to Everett. His strength definitely wavered a bit between Modesto and Everett, with his AVG dropping from .309 to .260, which might keep him in Everett a bit longer while he gets his bat figured out before going up against even stronger pitchers in Arkansas. Despite that bit of drop, he still made NWL Players of the Week with Everett in August of 2024, shortly after his promotion. His long legs really help him out in RF, getting him where he needs to be, but his ability to snag the ball and convert that to an out could use some work. He had an Everett FPCT of .949, with 73 PO and 4 E. There’s definitely work to be done with Montes, but as the current number 7 prospect with the Mariners, it’s clear that everyone can see exactly the player he can be once he locks it in.
Rhylan Thomas - Thomas was a part of the 2022 draft, being selected in round 11 with the New York Mets. In July of 2024, RHP Ryne Stanek was traded to the Mets for Thomas, and he was assigned to Tacoma for the remainder of the season. In 2024, he played in the Mets’ double-A and triple-A teams before being traded, and he was hitting pretty steadily. However, when he went from the Mets triple-A team to the Tacoma Rainiers, his hitting had a huge upswing, going from .235 through 49 games to .365 through 47. He’s strictly been an outfielder, so he’ll be good to have ready if there’s some time that one of the Mariners is out, but otherwise he’ll continue to be a great asset for Tacoma, locking down the right field with his total 2024 FPCT of .971 through 50 games.
Samad Taylor (INF/OF) - Taylor was a part of the 2016 draft, being selected in round 10 by the Cleveland Guardians, and he’s journeyed quite a bit since that draft. In January of 2024, he was traded to the Mariners from the Kansas City Royals for a Player To Be Named Later, and he’s definitely proven himself to be valuable to the team in that time. He made a few appearances with the Mariners, with an AVG of .400 through his 5 AB, but he really added to Tacoma. He played 136 games with them in 2024, keeping an AVG of .262 through that time, stealing an incredible 50 bases out of 65 attempts, putting up 11 homers, and 75 RBI from 133 hits. He’s also a very valuable player in the field, given his strengths both in and outfield. While he mostly drifted around the outfield for Tacoma, he also spent a little bit of time at 2B, keeping his FPCT at .976 through 39 games there. Hopefully, he earns a bit more time with the Mariners in 2025, possibly utilized more in the infield to see if he can slot in well there to help out the workload.
And that’s everyone! It’s a large group of invites, all ranging in their skills and what they are possibly going to bring to the major leagues if and when they finally get that call up. Watching the prospects at the Spring Breakout game is going to further give insight to where they might end up once the rosters for the minor league teams go out. Seeing some of these guys paired up with the veterans on the Mariners will be a lot of fun, given the journeys so many of them have been on. With 31 invitations sent out, the rosters are going to be a bit of a mystery until the season start gets even closer.
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