The Everett AquaSox got hit with a major roster shakeup on Monday, and the timing could hardly be more dramatic. Four players were moved up to Double-A Arkansas, while four replacements are coming in from Single-A Inland Empire and the Arizona Complex League as Everett prepares for a six-game set against Eugene.
The biggest names heading out are outfielder Jonny Farmelo, infielder Felnin Celesten, catcher Josh Caron and relief pitcher Lucas Kelly. That’s a heavy loss for the AquaSox lineup, especially with Celesten, Farmelo and Caron all sitting among the top six in OPS among qualified hitters in the Northwest League, not just on Everett’s roster.
Celesten leaves High-A as one of the league’s most dangerous bats. He leads the Northwest League in batting average at .314 and OPS at .943, and his season has included a 25-game hitting streak from April 21-May 21 and a cycle on June 26.
The 20-year-old also took a major leap after struggling in his brief 2025 stint with Everett, when he hit .158/.313/.289 in 11 games after being promoted on Aug. 18, 2025.
In last year’s Northwest League Championship series, when Everett beat Eugene for its first title since 2010, he went 4-for-15 with two walks, no strikeouts and three RBI.
“(I) pretty much committed to my ‘hot zone’ and take away the chases and bad pitches,” Celesten said amid his hitting streak on May 6, translated by outfield coach Edgardo Rivera. “Just concentrate and commit to my pitch and my plan.”
That breakout has pushed Celesten to No. 70 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list, up from No. 97, and he now ranks sixth among Mariners prospects. Farmelo, who checks in at No. 60 on the same list, is right behind him after putting together a strong first half in his first healthy season since 2023.
The 21-year-old appeared in 83 games for Everett this year after being limited to 79 games over the previous two seasons combined, including postseason play. His .863 OPS ranks sixth in the league, while his 62 walks and 26 stolen bases are both second.
Farmelo said the chance to play every day changed the way he approached the season.
“I have a good routine now,” Farmelo said on June 4. “I think I don’t have to do as much mental stuff now because I’m getting four at-bats every night, so it’s a little easier playing every night than it is playing one day, off the next day, but yeah, it’s been good.”
Caron’s jump may have been the most striking of the group. He spent all of 2025 in Everett and hit just .197 with a .600 OPS and nine home runs in 79 games.
This season, through 66 games, he was up to .267 with a .934 OPS. The 22-year-old leads the Northwest League with 19 home runs and a .579 slugging percentage, and his 20 stolen bases left him one homer short of a 20-20 season in High-A.
His .943 OPS and 62 RBI both rank in the top three in the league.
Caron, who is not in MLB Pipeline’s Mariners Top 30, said a changed mindset helped him turn things around.
“I think I was just like pretty hard on myself when things weren’t going well (last season),” Caron said earlier this month. “My expectations might have been a little high, and I think you just got to give yourself that grace and accept that this is a really hard game we play, and there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, but it’s a long season and it’ll all even out.”
Kelly’s move gives Everett one more departure from its championship core. He got the final out in the AquaSox’s title-clinching win over Eugene on Sept. 13, 2025, after the Mariners drafted him in the sixth round out of Arizona State and sent him to Everett on Aug.
18, 2025. The 22-year-old right-hander worked in a high-leverage role right away.
This season, Kelly posted a 4.88 ERA with 17 earned runs in 31 1/3 innings. He struck out 57 batters, tied for fourth on the team, and walked 21. His 40.4% strikeout rate with Everett leads the Northwest League among pitchers who faced at least 60 batters, according to The Herald’s calculations, with Hillsboro’s Sandro Santana next at 37.4%.
To fill those openings, Everett added outfielders Korbyn Dickerson and Aiden Taurek, infielder Ricardo Cova and pitcher Pedro Da Costa Lemos. Dickerson, Seattle’s No. 11 prospect on MLB Pipeline, is now the second-highest ranked prospect on the AquaSox behind catcher Luke Stevenson, who is Seattle’s No. 7 prospect. The 22-year-old fifth-round pick hit .276/.387/.425 with nine home runs and 36 RBI in 77 games for Inland Empire.
Taurek, Seattle’s No. 28 prospect and a 13th-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, hit .280 with a team-best .842 OPS over 79 games. Cova, 22, has raised his offensive output each of the past three seasons in Single-A and was hitting .290 to lead Inland Empire this year.
Da Costa Lemos, 23, logged 18 innings over 10 games for Everett last season, allowing 16 hits and six earned runs with 18 strikeouts and six walks. This year, he made two appearances for the ACL Mariners and gave up one hit and no earned runs in four innings.
Everett enters the week tied with Spokane atop the Northwest League second-half standings at 15-9, with both clubs chasing a spot in September’s Championship Series against first-half winner Eugene. The AquaSox will need the new arrivals to settle in quickly after losing so much production all at once.
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