Everett Keeps Doing The Work: Seven Former AquaSox Players Were On The Field In The Mariners’ Victory

There was an interesting story unfolding at T-Mobile Park.

On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners avoided a sweep against the Athletics with a 2-0 victory. It was Seattle’s only win in a four-game series, during a season that has not gone the way the organization expected after entering the year as one of the leading candidates to win the American League West.

But while watching the field, there was something that stood out even more.

Michael Arroyo was making his Major League debut.

The Colombian prospect, recently promoted from Tacoma, was given the opportunity to start at second base. For Arroyo, it was the first game of his Major League career. For the Mariners, it was another example of the path the organization is building from the minor leagues to Seattle.

And that is where Everett comes into the picture again.

Arroyo is another example of the work the AquaSox continue to do. He also spent time in Everett.

And he was not alone. Seven of the 14 players who saw action for Seattle on Sunday had gone through the Everett AquaSox during their development process: Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Bryan Woo, Cole Young, Lázaro Montes, Michael Arroyo and Brock Rodden.

Different moments and different circumstances, but all part of the same story: Everett as an important stop in the development of Mariners talent.

The number is difficult to ignore.

Seven of 14. Fifty percent of the Seattle players who appeared in Sunday’s game had Everett somewhere in their professional journey.

Arroyo and Montes: The Two Most Recent Names

Arroyo is the most recent example, but just a few days earlier, the call had come for Cuban prospect Lázaro Montes.

And Montes’ story with Everett deserves special attention.

Montes spent time with the AquaSox in 2024, making Everett an important part of his development as a prospect. In 2025, his season became even more significant. He was named Northwest League MVP, selected to the Futures Game and named the Mariners’ Minor League Player of the Year in honor of Ken Griffey Jr. He split that season between Everett and Arkansas and finished with 32 home runs.

With Everett, he played 67 games, hitting .268 with 18 home runs, 50 RBIs and a .959 OPS.

That was the player who received the call to the Major Leagues on September 1.

And Montes did not need much time to show why.

In his debut against Boston, he collected his first Major League hit and RBI before later hitting his first Major League home run, a 407-foot shot to center field.

Now, just a few days later, he was at T-Mobile Park playing his second series with Seattle and his first at home.

On Sunday, while Arroyo was making his debut, Montes was already part of the same group of players who had traveled through Everett before reaching the Major League stage.

And what was interesting was who was around him.

There was Julio Rodríguez, another player whose rise included Everett before becoming one of Seattle’s biggest stars. There was Cal Raleigh, who made his professional debut with Everett in 2018. There was Bryan Woo, who earned the win Sunday after throwing eight innings, allowing just one hit and striking out nine Athletics. There were also Cole Young and Brock Rodden.

And there was Montes.

Suddenly, Michael Arroyo’s debut became something much bigger than the first Major League game of a young prospect.

It was another piece being added to a chain.

The Generation Moving Up

There is something particularly interesting about this group.

We are not simply talking about players who once wore an Everett uniform. We are watching prospects move through the system and become Major League players.

Julio Rodríguez went through Everett before reaching Seattle. Bryan Woo did the same. Cole Young arrived in Everett in 2023 and continued climbing. Michael Arroyo and Lázaro Montes used Everett as an important part of their development. Brock Rodden also passed through the AquaSox before reaching Seattle.

And Cal Raleigh represents an earlier generation, but one that is equally important because his professional story began in Everett.

Even the contrast with Colt Emerson is impossible to ignore. Emerson was also part of the AquaSox and one of Everett’s top players in 2025. His arrival in Seattle came more recently, but a left wrist injury and subsequent surgery ended his season prematurely.

In other words, three of the top prospects from this new generation — Emerson, Montes and Arroyo — have already reached Seattle after going through Everett.

One had to stop because of an injury. The other two are already beginning to write their Major League stories.

Everett Keeps Doing the Work

Seattle’s season may not be turning out the way the organization expected.

The team entered Sunday facing a difficult situation and far from the expectations that existed at the beginning of the year. But when we shift the focus from the immediate Major League results to the player development process, the picture changes completely.

Everett continues to produce.

It continues to prepare players.

It continues to be an important stop on the road to Seattle.

And perhaps the most powerful image from Sunday was not simply Michael Arroyo stepping onto the field at T-Mobile Park for the first time.

It was looking around and realizing that half of the Seattle players who participated in the victory had something in common: at some point on their journey to the Major Leagues, they passed through Everett.

That does not appear in the standings.

It does not change the Mariners’ record.

But it does say a lot about the work being done within the organization.

The AquaSox continue to put players in Seattle.

And as long as that continues, Everett will continue to play an important role in the future of the Mariners.