This is the first in a series of more informal, discussion-based pieces focused on capturing the staff’s thoughts on the hot topics of the moment. This format, Pressing Questions, will see different writers meeting in real time to discuss questions that are top of mind and pertinent. This won’t replace our thought-out and researched thinkpieces on these topics at all – to me, that’s where Lookout Landing shines. However, I personally love Pressing Questions as a venue to let disagreements shine and capture more hot topics faster than a piece with a longer lead time can. As always, add to the discussion here in the comments, and let us know if you enjoy this format and want to see more, if you think we’re being lazy and you hate it, and most of all, who’s right. Conversations will be lightly edited for flow and brevity. -NVT
Brendon Donovan has hit the 10-day IL with a groin strain, with INF Will Wilson coming up from Tacoma to fill his roster spot. Leo Rivas is expected to take over starting 3B duties until Donovan returns.
This spurred the $90 million question: why is Will Wilson coming up to fill this spot instead of wunderkid Colt Emerson?
Grant: So, why the heck isn’t Emerson coming up here? Wilson has 91 MLB plate appearances and has slashed .192/.267/.244. With the extension, there’s no service time reason to keep Emerson down anymore.
Kate: I would have to assume that they don’t feel like he’s ready yet. Or maybe they want to give him the feeling that he earned his way up rather than being called on in desperation.
Grant: I just don’t get how he’s less ready than Will Wilson (if that’s even a real name).
Kate: Wilson is a good defender, he just can’t really hit yet (classic former Angels first-round draft pick). I’m sure he’s up for defense. Anyways this is Leo Rivas now:
Grant: Giving Emerson this contract AND being so hesitant to call him up is baffling, in my opinion. If you don’t think he’s ready, sure, but then you’re guaranteeing him a ton of money before you’re ready to bring him up to the roster. With the other prospects who’ve received these deals, they’ve all been ready to start as soon as they sign.
Kate: It just isn’t that baffling to me. I think giving him a big chunk of money and thinking he’s ready to start immediately for the 2026 Seattle Mariners aren’t necessarily linked ideas.
Nicky V: I think the idea is that they specifically don’t want him to come up as an injury sub. They want him to come up and stay up, because he is coming up for a permanent job. I think that makes sense especially from a player psychology perspective.
Kate: Exactly, Nick.
Grant: Isn’t $90m guaranteed enough of a psychological plus?
Kate: Not if he comes up and fails.
Nick: Not really, I don’t think. He needs and deserves to be called up and given the keys to a starting spot, whether it’s shortstop or 3B or whatever. He should feel that it’s a spot he’s fully earned, it’s his to keep, and it’s not going away any time soon.
Kate: Do you want Kelenic 2.0? Because this is how you get Kelenic 2.0.
Grant: That feels like apples and oranges. I’ve heard so much about how strong of a presence he is, would failing for 2-4 weeks be so terrible?
Kate: They’re very different people obviously, but they share an obsession with winning. Colt just knows how to handle that healthily.
Grant: If he knows how to handle that healthily, then shouldn’t we bring him up now, since he presumably is a better option than Will?
Evan: I would argue these things are not mutually exclusive: they can call him up now technically as an injury sub, but have him keep the job. It’s not like they are short of somewhat expendable fringe infielders with Wisdom on the IL already and now Will Wilson here.
Grant: Couldn’t you just send down Leo Rivas when Donovan is back?
Evan: Grant and I are thinking the same thing. He can have Brendon Donovan’s job for now and then Leo Rivas’ in a few weeks.
Kate: But they don’t want that. Leo Rivas’ job isn’t Colt Emerson’s job.
Nick: I understand why you feel that way, Grant + Evan. If it was me playing Out of the Park, he’d be up right now for sure. But the moment matters as much as the timing, in my opinion. He deserves fanfare, a full-time job, the whole nine yards.
Evan: You think it’s more likely that they start him full time at 3B and bounce Donovan around than give him Leo Rivas’ part-time spot?
Nick: 100%, Evan. I do think Donovan could, for example, learn LF and do a better job than Randy has been recently.
Grant: That’s probably it, Nick – from a pure talent perspective, he’s obviously better than Wilson (I assume). The question is: do we (team + player) all benefit from Emerson coming up for two weeks as the best available option, even if he’s subsequently sent back down? Or would that disrupt his development?
Kate: In my opinion, the long-term best decision for the Mariners and for Colt is for him not to come up. He’s just getting going at Triple-A and they want him to keep string together good at-bats, but for that, he has to be healthy, and it does sound like he’s going to be down for a couple days with a banged-up wrist.
John: The health thing definitely seals it, but I do think the extension is a good cause for them to not see him strained by focusing on anything other than trying to improve. I don’t know as much about the mental aspect of it for him specifically, but giving him the security to basically then say “we want to see you improve at this, and we believe in you enough that we’ll pay you upfront to see you make those improvements” speaks to encouraging patience with his development.
To me, the comparison isn’t Kelenic so much as Zunino, who was infamously called up quickly as an injury replacement.
Kate: Besides, everyone asking why Wilson and not Colt Emerson is not asking the right question, which is why Wilson and not Brock Rodden.
