The Seattle Mariners promoted two Everett AquaSox players — shortstop Colt Emerson and pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje — to Double-A Arkansas on Sunday, just hours after Everett lost 7-2 to the Eugene Emeralds on the road.
Emerson is the Mariners’ top prospect. As of his promotion, the 20-year-old ranks as the No. 15 overall prospect, according to MLB. He finished his stint in Everett as the Mariners Minor League Hitter of the Month for July, where he slashed .296/.420/.519 with four home runs and 13 RBI.
Announcing our Minor League Award Winners for July!
Up first: Our Hitter and Pitcher of the Month, Colt Emerson and Ryan Sloan! #TridentsUp
🔗 https://t.co/Ehc8iPn8uN pic.twitter.com/Vv48125oEL
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) August 2, 2025
Cijntje, meanwhile, ranks eighth in the Mariners system and No. 70 overall in MLB. He last pitched on Saturday, giving up four earned runs in Everett’s 4-2 loss, but notching a career-high 10 strikeouts. The switch-pitcher made three starts in July, posting a 3.12 ERA in 17.1 innings.
“Even though people going up, people going down and stuff, I mean, I actually want to get promoted, too, but it’s just, why think about (that) stuff?” Cijntje said to The Herald in June. “It’s gonna happen eventually. Just go out there and just pitch, and just play the game.”
‘Eventually’ would end up being just over a month later. The AquaSox lose two key pieces that contributed to winning the first-half title. Such is life in minor league baseball. In addition to the promotion of catcher Freuddy Batista on July 29, Everett also lost pitchers Ashton Izzi and Hunter Cranton in the Mariners’ deadline trades for Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez, respectively.
“Our job is to get our players ready to either move up for us, make it to the Major Leagues for us, or make them interesting enough to put them in a trade so we can help our big league team out,” AquaSox manager Zach Vincej told The Herald following Izzi’s departure via trade on July 24. “That’s really what it comes down to.”
While the AquaSox have plenty of pitchers that will fill the gap Cijntje leaves behind, the AquaSox will have a hard time replacing Emerson both towards the top of the lineup and defensively, where he routinely made plays at shortstop.
Outfielder Tai Peete is a natural shortstop, but the AquaSox and Mariners have worked on converting him to a center fielder, which is where he’s played all season. It’s more likely the team will lean on the other infielders on the roster instead.
“We call (Peete), like, ‘Golden Retriever.’ He wants to go out there and catch a freaking baseball,” AquaSox hitting coach Jordan Cowan said last month about Peete’s transition to the outfield. “Always attacking it, and he’s out there trying to get better every single day. You can see the enjoyment. He wants to be a Gold Glove outfielder, that’s his standard. So hopefully one day, that time comes.”
As of publication, no corresponding moves — particularly call-ups from Low-A Modesto — have been announced, but there’s always an opportunity for those to occur, especially in the coming days.
The AquaSox travel home on Monday, and they kick off a six-game homestand against Tri-City on Tuesday.
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