Seattle Mariners Executive Shares Unique Comp For Top 100 Prospect Lazaro Montes

The Seattle Mariners international scouting department has been one of the better ones in baseball for several years. And the organization is starting to reap the fruits of that labor.

Three international signings are among the Mariners' seven top 100 prospects (per Baseball American and MLB Pipeline). One is middle infielder Michael Arroyo, who'll play for Colombia in the qualifying rounds of the 2026 World Baseball Classic in early March. Another is shortstop Felnin Celesten, who's considered one of the most surefire prospects the organization has. The other is outfielder Lazaro Montes, who has arguably more potential than any other Seattle prospect.

Ever since the Mariners signed Montes out of Cuba on Jan. 15, 2022, He's drawn comparisons to Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez. But Seattle's director of player development Justin Toole had a different comp for Montes, and it's just as favorable.

FanGraphs' David Laurila spoke with Toole in an article published on the site. Toole talked about the similarities between a player he helped coach in the minor leagues, Nolan Jones, and Montes:

"So, Nolan is a little bit more goes-about-his-business, but they’re very similar in terms of the lankiness within their swings. I think the most exciting thing about Laz is the [developmental strides] that he’s made. Coming over from the D.R. and being able to cut down on the swing-and-miss, and the chase, and how he’s been able to handle left-handed pitching.
" ... There are a lot of similarities in terms of projectability, but there are also differences. There’s a natural power to Laz, whereas I think Nolan had to work for the power a little bit more. Ultimately, it developed more at the major league level when he got to Colorado and got the opportunities there. But yeah, that’s a very interesting comp."

Jones has played three major league seasons, one with the Cleveland Guardians and two with the Colorado Rockies. His best season came in 2023 where he hit .290 with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs in 106 games.

In 2024 with the Low-A Modesto Nuts and High-A Everett AquaSox, Montes hit .288 with 21 home runs and 105 RBIs.