SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners have carefully cultivated one of the best farm systems in baseball during president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and assistant general manager Justin Hollander's respective tenures in the front office.

The Mariners have used the MLB Draft, and the international scouting department, to build a farm system that has featured several top 100 prospects over the last decade. The team has seen the fruits of that labor. Five of the six starting pitchers in the current rotation were drafted and developed by the Mariners. The club's middle infield, second baseman Cole Young and shortstop Colt Emerson, was also drafted and developed by the organization.

Seattle received a nice premium in the 2025 Draft when it received the No. 3 overall selection in the draft lottery during the MLB winter meetings before that season.

The M's used that pick to select left-handed starting pitcher Kade Anderson, who's likely to be called up to the major leagues at some point this season after dominating the Double-A level.

This year's version of the MLB Draft begins on July 11 and the Mariners have fewer overall draft picks in the 2026 draft as a result of acquiring Brendan Donovan. Their first selection will be 24th overall, much lower than last year's No. 3 pick.

Due to how late Seattle is picking in the first round, there's no clear consensus on what position group the team will pick from or whether it will be a player from high school or college.

Per Mariners vice president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter, the team plans on continuing its usual approach of drafting the highest player on its board, regardless of position.

However, Seattle does have an idea of what group probably needs to be bolstered the most.

"Obviously college bats would be great to have, or any kind of high school bats, just to keep our hitting program, our hitting value, what's coming up through the system strong," Hunter said in an interview Friday at T-Mobile Park. "Because we do have a lot of pitching. ... I don't think we're in any area that we say we 'need' but maybe, if anything, maybe some college outfielders or high school outfielders that fit the next wave."

If the Mariners do end up picking an outfielder, a player expected to be available around when the team selects is TCU's Sawyer Strosnider. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound college junior slashed .273/.415/.590 in 50 games (all starts) this past season. He hit 11 doubles, four triples and 13 home runs with 47 RBIs.

However, several analysts expect the team to go with a college pitcher. A recent mock draft from MLB.com had Seattle selecting right-handed pitcher Tegan Kuhns from Tennessee.

ESPN's Kiley McDaniel had the Mariners picking high school third baseman Bo Lowrance in a mock draft.

There might not be a consensus on where Seattle will go, which is a good sign of the premium the team is operating from with the farm system.

The 2026 MLB Draft begins at 10 a.m. PT on July 11 at Philadelphia.

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!