When it comes to this year’s MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners’ scouting department knows one sure thing: It will need to be ready to think on its feet.

Seattle Mariners Roster Notes: OF added on waivers; Woo, Speier updates

After having a whopping three first-round selections in a top-heavy draft last year, the Mariners hold the 15th overall pick in 2024. Exactly who will be available when Seattle is on the clock will be quite the mystery, even to the organization’s dialed-in scouting department.

“This was a different one,” Mariners director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said about this year’s draft on Wednesday. “It’s going to be more of a challenge. I think we’re gonna have to do a lot of heavy lifting and figuring out (how to extract) the players that really we believe in for what the Mariners do.”

The 2023 draft was stocked with talented high school position players, which resulted in Seattle going that route for all three of its first-round selections. According to Hunter, this year’s draft – which begins with the first and second rounds July 14 and runs through July 16 – doesn’t have near the caliber of depth at the top.

“The depth of the draft is a lot different. It’s a weird class,” Hunter said. “… It’s a little thinner than last year’s at top of the draft. I think there’s about nine or ten players we think are going to be off the board before we pick, and then after that, we’re pretty much saying it’s dealer’s choice for what organizations are going to do.”

A different route for M’s?

Over the past several years, Hunter and his staff have hit on a number of early-round picks. First it was a run of college pitchers picked in the first round in consecutive years, starting with Logan Gilbert in 2018, then George Kirby and Emerson Hancock. In the three drafts since, Seattle has shifted its focus to high school bats, selecting catcher Harry Ford in the first round of 2021, shortstop Cole Young in 2022 and infielders Colt Emerson and Tai Peete and outfielder Jonny Farmelo in 2023.

Gilbert, Kirby and Hancock have all reached the majors. (Hancock is currently in Triple-A, which is more of a testament to Seattle’s pitching depth than Hancock’s talent). Ford, Young, Emerson and Farmelo are all rated as top-100 prospects by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline, or both.

With that type of success, it appears Seattle is doing something right when it comes to scouting high school bats and college arms. However, they may have to go a different route with their first-rounder this month.

“There’s a lot of high school pitching, which I know we haven’t really done much at the top of the draft, but it’s actually really in play for us because we have to consider every demographic in the draft,” Hunter said. “And we don’t want to make poor decisions, but we also want to make sure we’re giving our best ourselves the best chance to make a good decision. Sometimes the high school pitcher could be that guy.”

Seattle hasn’t taken a high school pitcher in the first round since Hunter was hired following the 2016 season. The highest prep hurler taken during that stretch was right-hander Sam Carlson going in the second round at N0. 55 in 2017. Carlson’s career has been hampered by injuries, but Seattle is seeing some good early returns  from a recent high school pitcher it drafted. Michael Morales, a third-rounder in 2021, is with Double-A Arkansas at just 21 years old and is the Mariners’ No. 12 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Hunter said the injury risk and time it takes to reach the majors are some of the cons of taking a pitcher out of high school. However, he also noted that high school pitchers are starting to have more success early on in the minors than in the past, and they’re entering pro baseball with better raw stuff and understanding of analytics than ever.

“If you pick the right high school pitcher, you usually have a lot of success,” Hunter said, “but there is a lot of landmines and risk that goes into that.”

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My first encounter with the work of James Wehn occurred in the 1980s during a family trip to the Seattle Center. At some point that day we found ourselves walking around in the nearby Belltown neighborhood when someone in the group pointed to a statue of Chief Seattle. The 400-pound bronze statue sits at Tilikum Place, the triangular plaza in front of The 5 Point Cafe, and shows Seattle with his right arm extended up, as if in greeting. I was still in high school at the time and had just learned about Chief Seattle in my Washington state history class, so the moment served as perhaps the first time that I remember having any kind of awareness or appreciation toward public art.

Several years later, as a young 20-something, I would haphazardly stumble across the famous bronze bust of Chief Seattle that sits in Pioneer Square. It wasn’t until much later that I learned both pieces were created by the same artist — a turn-of-the-century sculptor by the name of James when, who created some of the city’s first pieces of public art. In fact, he is often referred to as being “the first sculptor of Seattle,” as he created numerous plaques, statuary, and medallions that can be seen all across the city. He even designed the very first seal for the city of Seattle.

It was a real thrill, then, when I recently acquired one of Wehn’s original medallions that he designed back in 1928 after he was commissioned to create a piece of official insignia for the city’s lamp posts. Wehn cast hundreds of these, which were then used as decorative embellishments on light posts throughout the city. Many of these original medallions were later scrapped in the 1950s and ’60s, during various revitalization efforts, though a few of them managed to escape the scrap heap and will occasionally show up for sale.

I became the proud owner of mine courtesy of a local estate sale. The palm-sized medallion weighs close to a pound, and its beautiful depiction of two intertwined salmon is only enhanced by its century-old patina. When holding one in your hand, you can literally feel its industrial origins, going all the way back to when it was first cast in Wehn’s foundry. Above all, it serves as a physical testament to the artistic endowment that he first established here more than a hundred years ago.

James Wehn first arrived in Seattle as a young boy, when his family moved here in 1889. His father, John Wehn, was an ironworker and was able to find work at a local foundry. A few months after their arrival, the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 wiped out most of the city. Luckily, their house managed to avoid any significant damage and because of the elder Wehn’s profession, he took an active role in the rebuilding of Seattle. This early exposure to the art and skill of blacksmithing, and seeing the architectural beauty that it could create, obviously served as a huge influence for the young boy.

Wehn was 13 years old when he contracted diphtheria and, during a rather lengthy recovery, was given a set of watercolor paints to help him pass the time. He quickly discovered that he had a natural talent for painting and sculpture, which eventually led him to pursuing art as a career. While later attending art school, Wehn also worked with his father at Washington Iron Works, where he learned all the skills involved with foundry work. It is here that his art studies merged with his working knowledge of ironwork, setting him on course to become one of the top metal artists of his time. Wehn moved to Chicago for a couple of years, where he was mentored by a renowned sculptor who taught him how to mold and cast sculptures in bronze. Upon his return to Seattle, in 1905, he opened the city’s first studio that was dedicated to metal as an artistic medium.

For the remainder of his life, Wehn would use this studio to create some of Seattle’s most iconic public art. Much of his work features various historical settlers from the Pacific Northwest, including Henry Yesler, Capt. George Vancouver, and Ezra Meeker. Wehn was especially drawn toward local Native American culture, as seen in many of his most famous pieces. His fascination with local tribes began in his early childhood when he and his brothers would occasionally catch a glimpse of Princess Angeline — the famous daughter of Chief Seattle — walking down the street. In fact, Wehn spent a considerable amount of time visiting local Indian reservations, where he immersed himself in their history and culture, making sketches of the various inhabitants that he would later use as visual references for some of his sculptures.

His first major project began in 1908, when the city commissioned him to create the statue of Chief Seattle. He spent a total of fi ve years toiling away on that project in order to make it as perfect as possible. While it was the city’s second piece of public art (the first one being the totem pole that was installed in Pioneer Square in 1899), it was the first publicly commissioned art for the city of Seattle. The 6-foot-tall statue was officially unveiled by Chief Seattle’s great-great granddaughter at a very well-attended opening ceremony on Nov. 13, 1912.

During these early years, Wehn developed a friendship with University of Washington professor and historian Edmond S. Meany. Wehn, himself, would subsequently teach art classes at the university and would also establish the Department of Sculpture there in 1919. Due to this work at the collegiate level, Wehn would later be named an Officer of the French Academy of Arts.

His next significant work took place in 1936 when he was commissioned to design the city of Seattle official seal. Additionally, he would prolifically create more than 300 medallions, medals, statuary, and other sculptures, which were mostly used for civic purposes throughout the local region. This includes such notable works as the first state of Washington commemorative medal, which he designed in 1953. He also served for two years on the city’s first Municipal Art Commission.

He remained active well into his twilight years, helping with a restoration of his Chief Seattle statue in preparation for the 1962 World’s Fair. Toward the very end of his life, he would bequeath his entire studio collection to the Washington State Historical Society before passing away in 1973, at the age of 91.

1973.86_B_207, Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma (Wash.)

He left behind an enormous artistic legacy that can be seen in schools, buildings, and cemeteries all throughout the local region, with his work widely celebrated for bridging Seattle’s early civic pride with the region’s Native American heritage. A collection of his work, numbering more than 200 pieces, is on permanent display at the Washington State Historical Society Museum in Tacoma.

A picture perfect 4th of July Holiday today! Sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s and low 80s earlier this afternoon.

Skies will remain clear overnight as we enjoy dazzling fireworks displays around our area. Temperatures will be near 70 during the time the fireworks are lit off. Overnight we will drop into the 50s. This will be our last cooler night for a while as the heat settles in this weekend. 

We will turn up the heat a little more beginning tomorrow as spots will warm into the upper 80s. There are many locations like Olympia, Shelton and Centralia along with our Cascade Foothills which will see 90s beginning tomorrow. 

A heat wave is forecast to settle into the Pacific Northwest beginning on Friday-Tuesday. A Heat Advisory has been issued for most of western Washington and Northeast Washington. An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for areas around Central Washington, Spokane, Pullman, Kelso, Portland, and the Columbia River Gorge. The risk of heat-related illnesses will be elevated this weekend, so make sure you are drinking plenty of water and finding ways to stay cool.

Puget Sound will see some of the warmest temperatures so far this season beginning Friday. Record heat is forecast for Sunday and near-record warmth for Monday and Tuesday. 

In addition to the record heat during this heat wave, parts of Washington will see an elevated fire risk. A Fire Weather Watch will go into effect on Saturday morning through Sunday evening. 

Relief from the heat will slow. We are forecasting three days straight of 90 degree temperatures in metro locations. We will start to back off the heat a bit by the middle of the week, but even with temperatures in the low to mid 80s, that is still almost 10 degrees warmer than average.