Lazaro Montes, perhaps the single most powerful bat the Mariners have had in their minor leagues this decade, is a polarizing player within the scouting community. While many see his thunderous bat that launched 32 homers last season across two different levels and liken him to some of the great sluggers of our time, others are concerned about his contact rates and lack of positional versatility, positing he won’t ever hit enough to make his power play in game action. Regardless of where you align yourself on the spectrum of outcomes Laz ultimately arrives at, Montes is undoubtedly one of the best prospects in this entire system and deserves his flowers after an excellent 2025 season.
The calling card here is the power. With some mammoth home runs under his belt, his lefty swing is catered for lofting balls over the outfield fence, and thanks to his hulking frame (he’s listed at 6’5 210lb, but as someone who has stood next to him, I can assure you he’s bigger than that), he accomplishes that goal with regularity. The exit velocities are loud, and because he’s able to elevate the ball so frequently, they lead to tangible results on the field.
An interesting tidbit for Montes that gets underrated by most public outlets, Montes seems to have a better innate handle for the bat than many give him credit for. He’s shown stretches of time where he is very obviously avoiding the “sell out for power” mentality, poking singles the other way and making more contact with the ball. There’s a happy medium in there somewhere, and if he’s able to achieve a sustainable balance of contact and dynamic power, Montes quashes a lot of the concerns evaluators have around his offensive game.
Outside of the bat, Montes profiles as a corner outfielder at the next level, with a massive arm suited for right field. His speed, though perhaps a hair underrated, is still below average and won’t be a major part of his game, but what he lacks in footspeed he makes up for with incessant hustle. He is constantly giving max effort everywhere on the field, and it’s incredibly fun to watch as a fan. There’s never a doubt Montes deeply cares about doing his best for the team in any way he can, and it’s a refreshing style of play that fans naturally gravitate to.
Montes draws more extreme comps than just about any prospect in this system, and while a player with his skills is typically clumped into one bucket of corner outfielders or another, it’s doing Montes a disservice to remove all nuance from him as a player. Yes, the strikeouts are very high, and yes, he does not make a lot of contact, but how much of a concern is it if a then 20 year old is producing in Double-A? At what point does production reign supreme? To say Montes is a perfect prospect would be a lie, but to discount Montes’ accomplishments and cite only his worst trait as a universal dealbreaker is equally flawed. The risk associated around him is why he’s at sixth in our overall rankings, but with a supremely talented top of the farm, Montes was neck-and-neck with the next prospects on our list and still sits within our upper echelon of premium prospect talent.
