The Seattle Mariners are sending another wave of talent up the ladder.
After top prospect Felnin Celesten was promoted to Double-A Arkansas, reports on Monday said outfielder Jonny Farmelo and pitcher Lucas Kelly are going with him to Little Rock.
Farmelo, ranked No. 5 in the organization by MLB Pipeline, was the No. 29 overall pick in the 2023 draft, taken just after Colt Emerson. The 21-year-old has had his development slowed by injuries, but this season has pushed him back into the picture.
In 83 games at High-A Everett, he hit .267 with a .386 on-base percentage, adding 17 doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs and 26 stolen bases. MLB Pipeline projects his major league debut for 2028, and there could be room for him down the line with Randy Arozarena’s and Victor Robles’s contracts ending after 2026.
Brendan Donovan’s contract ends after 2027 and Luke Raley’s after 2028.
Kelly is 22 and was a sixth-round pick by Seattle in 2025. He helped the AquaSox win the Northwest League title in 2025 and has spent this season working strictly out of the bullpen.
In 24 games, he is 2-3 with a 4.88 ERA, 57 strikeouts and 21 walks in 31.1 innings. Opponents are batting just .217 against him.
Celesten, meanwhile, has been one of the organization’s hottest hitters. MLB Pipeline has him ranked No. 6 in the system, and he’s in the middle of a career-best year after signing as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic on Jan.
15, 2023. In 80 games with Everett, he’s slashing .314/.409/.534 with a .943 OPS, along with 21 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 52 RBIs and 18 steals in 22 attempts.
Seattle enters Monday at 50-50, sitting 1.5 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West and one game back of the Boston Red Sox in the wild card race. The Mariners open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
In Other News...
Former Mariners Outfielder Finally Reached A Breaking Point In Oakland
Cade Marlowes path through pro ball has already taken him from Seattle to a second organization, and now the former Mariners outfielder is back on the market after using an opt-out in his minor league deal with Oakland. It comes after a productive stretch at Triple-A, the kind of run that usually keeps a player in the conversation for a call-up and gives a club a reason to keep him close.
For Seattle fans, Marlowe is still easy to remember from his 42 big league games over two seasons, a brief stint that included a memorable ninth-inning grand slam against the Angels before he was designated for assignment and later chose free agency. Oaklands decision not to bring him up leaves his next step unsettled, but it also puts a familiar name back into the kind of limbo that often defines the fringe of a major league roster. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Prospect Felnin Celesten Is Forcing His Way Back Into Focus
Felnin Celestens season has gone from promising to impossible to ignore, and now the Mariners are rewarding it with another jump. The 19-year-old shortstop has moved up from High-A Everett after putting together the best offensive stretch of his pro career, the kind of performance that has pushed him back onto major prospect lists and put his name squarely back in the organizations long-range conversation.
Celesten is expected to make his Double-A debut soon after the teams day off, which will be the next real test of how much of that production carries with him. For Seattle, the appeal is obvious: a young middle infielder who is trending the right way again and forcing evaluators to take a fresh look at him, even as the tougher competition in Arkansas will tell the next part of the story. [Read more 🡒]