If you listen to any of the pre-winter meetings scuttle around the Seattle Mariners, a lot of it is focused on the M's pursuits of second basemen.

They have, of course, been linked to Jorge Polanco again, who can play second or designated hitter, but they've also been linked to trade candidates like Brandon Lowe, Brendan Donovan and Ketel Marte.

My question, is why exactly? Young came up in May amidst much fanfare as a Top 100 prospect, and though he struggled over the final two months, he had nice some very moments.

He just hit .211 in total though with four home runs and 24 RBIs. He had a .302 on-base percentage and a .607 slugging.

What I'm saying

As I brought up on the most recent edition of the Refuse to Lose podcast, which you can listen to here.

I will be very curious, or I am very curious, about what the internal conversations are like on Cole Young, because I've been excited by him. In my mind, Cole Young at his best, in four years, is Brendan Donovan: a high contact, low strikeout, hits 13-to-15 home runs, has a good eye, and gets on base. I think what Brendan Donovan is, that everyone's salivating over, is what Cole Young could be. And are the Mariners thinking that Cole Young is not that guy, or are they just thinking, "Hey, he might be that guy, but he's not that guy now and we need that guy today?" That, I might be able to reconcile a little bit more, but I've been under the impression that Cole Young was good and was going to play a lot in 2026, and now, I don't know exactly how he's perceived.

What the experts are saying

I brought the same topic to both Buster Olney of ESPN and Kristie Ackert of the Sporting News on recent episodes, asking them if the inclination to look at second basemen is a referendum on Young's talents. (Olney's full interview here).

Ackert: 

No, it's because parades are better than prospects. I mean, yes, these these guys in the front office are looking at their their kids coming up...He hasn't really proven himself at the Major League level yet, let's be real, as much as a Donovan has. I mean if you have a chance to get a Brendan Donovan, you go for it. That's the problem with being a prospect. Unless you come up and you dominate and you take over, you could be moved, your course of your career can be changed very quickly. Polanco, you know, they have a history with him. Sometimes it's hard...Managers are very wary, generally of kids, remember, rookies can cost a manager a job...

Olney: 

"It's a great question, and the Mariners, in the conference rooms, when they have these talks, they're going to make their evaluation on him. I've got to believe, that if they believe in his talent, that's always the direction that a team who inhabits the payroll level that they do, they're going to go with the cheaper player..."

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