The Mariners handed out their 2026 minor league honors on Saturday, and the list was loaded with big bats, big numbers and one pitching season that stood out across all of the minors.
Lazaro Montes took home Co-Ken Griffey Jr. Hitter of the Year for the third straight season, capping a year that saw the 21-year-old power his way through Double-A and Triple-A before getting his first shot in the majors.
In 123 minor league games, Montes hit .249/.369/.558 with a .927 OPS, 38 homers, 24 doubles, one triple, eight steals, 79 walks and 166 strikeouts. His 38 home runs tied him for third across all minor league levels, and he picked up Texas League Hitter of the Month honors in June.
The 2022 international free agent signing was promoted to Seattle on Sept. 1 and had already made an impression by Saturday, hitting .204/.291/.469 with a .760 OPS, four homers, one double, six walks and 24 strikeouts in 20 big-league games. His first major league stint also included a 474-foot homer at T-Mobile Park, the longest blast in the park’s history. Montes is Seattle’s fifth-ranked prospect and No. 53 in baseball.
The other Co-Ken Griffey Jr. Hitter of the Year went to Jarvis Gomez, who made a loud first impression in his first season of pro ball.
The 17-year-old produced a .368/.467/.546 line with a 1.013 OPS in 48 games for the Dominican Summer League Mariners, adding six homers, nine doubles, one triple, 17 steals, 29 walks and 26 strikeouts. He reached base in 47 games, finished sixth in the DSL in batting average and 16th in OPS, and is Seattle’s 29th-ranked prospect.
On the pitching side, Kade Anderson’s season was the kind that turns heads everywhere in the game. The 22-year-old left-hander went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and 135 strikeouts against 13 walks over 93 1/3 innings in 18 starts for Double-A Arkansas.
He held opponents to a .147 average and gave up one run or fewer in 15 of his 18 outings. Among minor leaguers with at least 90 innings, Anderson led all levels in ERA, WHIP, strikeout rate at 40.5 percent and strike-to-walk ratio at 10.38 to 1.
That dominance earned him Texas League Pitcher of the Month in June and a spot in MLB’s All-Star Futures Game in July. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 draft was promoted to the majors on Aug. 22 and entered Saturday with a 2-2 record, 4.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 28 strikeouts to eight walks in 32 1/3 innings over six starts. Anderson is Seattle’s top-ranked prospect, No. 5 in baseball and the top-ranked pitching prospect in the sport.
The Alvin Davis “Mr. Mariner” Award went to Charlie Pagliarini, who put together a strong all-around season at Double-A Arkansas.
The 25-year-old hit .265/374/.498 with an .872 OPS, 27 homers, 29 doubles, three triples, 81 walks and 175 strikeouts in 130 games. He finished in the top five in the Texas League in runs scored with 95, doubles, home runs, RBIs with 91 and walks, and was seventh in OPS.
Pagliarini was a 19th-round pick in the 2023 draft and is not ranked among Seattle’s prospects.
Patrick Wisdom earned the Dan Wilson Community Service Award after a busy stretch with Triple-A Tacoma that included visits to youth baseball leagues, Boys & Girls Clubs and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma. Wisdom, 35, was a 2024 Roberto Clemente Award nominee with the Chicago Cubs, and he also did plenty of damage at the plate in the Pacific Coast League, leading the league with 35 homers in just 81 games.
Seattle’s Edgar Martinez “Dominate The Zone” Tournament Award winners included Sammy Siani on the hitting side and Jackson Steensma on the mound.
Siani, 25, hit .245/.302/.392 with a .694 OPS in 69 games at Double-A, finishing with seven homers, six doubles, two triples, 17 steals, 19 walks and 50 strikeouts. He ended the year on a 15-game on-base streak, batting .421 with five home homers and three doubles over that span.
Steensma, a 22-year-old right-hander and Seattle’s 22nd-ranked prospect, went 0-6 with a 4.57 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 43 1/3 innings over 15 outings, 12 of them starts, for Single-A Inland Empire. The 2025 ninth-round pick struck out 61 and walked 10, and he was one of just six Class-A pitchers to post a K/9 above 12.00 and a WHIP below 1.10. He was also the only one with a sub-2.10 BB/9, walked more than one batter in only one outing and issued zero walks in seven outings, including five starts.
The Dave Henderson Staff Member of the Year award went to DSL Mariners manager Luis Matias, who guided the club to a 33-23 record and the first round of the playoffs in his second season in charge. Matias has been in the organization since 2015 and also played as an infielder in Seattle’s system from 2009-12.
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Third base, shortstop and left field all stand out as spots the Mariners need to address, and each one comes with its own wrinkle, whether it is injuries, free agency or plain performance uncertainty. However Seattle chooses to fill those holes, the front office knows the next few months will go a long way toward determining whether this team can turn a frustrating season into something more durable. [Read more 🡒]