Over the last week, four different ranking services have released their Top 100 prospects ahead of the 2026 MLB season.
The latest of which came from ESPN prospect guru Kiley McDaniel, who said that the Seattle Mariners have five players inside the Top 100. That’s more than Baseball America (4), but less than MLB Pipeline (7).
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McDaniel listed infielder Colt Emerson at No. 6, left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson at No. 16 and right-handed pitcher Ryan Sloan at No. 24. He also listed infielder Michael Arroyo at No. 62 and Jurrangelo Cijntje at No. 95.
As you can see by the differences between the three services, prospect valuations are very subjective. The most interesting thing about McDaniel’s rankings? Lazaro Montes isn’t on them at all. Arroyo and Cijntje were not on the BA rankings.
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With regards to Emerson, McDaniel gave him an interesting comparison, albeit an imperfect one: Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Reminds me of: Brice Turang is the best I could find, because there isn’t a perfect fit
At least he’s honest about it…
Emerson was a first-round pick of the Mariners in 2023 out of the Ohio high school ranks. He hit .285 in the 2025 minor league season with 16 homers, 78 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He ended the year at Triple-A Tacoma and was with the Mariners on the taxi squad for playoff preparations.
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He will battle with Ben Williamson for the starting third base job in camp as of now, and could take over as the team’s shortstop in 2027 with J.P. Crawford a free agent then.
He has just 40 games above High-A, so the Mariners could opt to start him at Triple-A, but either way, he seems destined for a major league promotion in 2026.
Emerson joined our Refuse to Lose podcast back in June of 2025, and you can listen to that here.
Turang might not be a household name, but he’s certainly a good player to draw comparisons to. The probable starting second baseman for Team USA at the upcoming World Baseball Classic, he hit .288 last season with 18 homers, 81 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. He helped the Brewers to the best record in baseball and finished 14th in MVP voting in the National League. He also won a Gold Glove for Milwaukee in 2024.
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