2015 Non-Roster Position Players

The Mariners held their first full workout today, meaning everyone has arrived in Peoria. So, it's time to look at the rest of the non-roster invitees just like I did last week with pitchers and catchers. here's how the initial rankings are tallied:

• 1 point per year away from 28 years old, either way (so super young and super old players are equally intriguing, though for different reasons)
• 1 point per league level. MLB is worth 4 points, AAA 3 points, and so on
• 1 point for being a lefty arm
• 1 point if the player has some special circumstance that adds to their intrigue

Without further ado, the initial position player rankings!

1. Endy Chavez (+13): The aged wonder soldiers on, accumulating this massive rating based on the fact that he somehow was a regular for the M's last year and he is closer to 40 than 30. He seems to always rise to the MLB roster.
2. Franklin Gutierrez (+6.75): Guti was hard to rate since he didn't play at all last season. Ultimately I gave him credit for half of his 2013 level (split between AAA and MLB) and then added a bonus point given the intrigue of how he might come back from missing all of last season.
3. D.J. Peterson (+6.5): I think Peterson is the first basemen of the future when he's ready, which isn't yet, but hopefully not too far into the future.
4. Jordy Lara (+6): Lara put up a big year in high A. This next season is an interesting one for him, though he figures to be among the early spring cuts.
5. Carlos Rivero (+5): Likely AAA depth, particularly after Rickie Weeks was signed.
6. Patrick Kivlehan (+4.5): I've got a prospect crush on Kivlehan, so I disagree with my own ranking here. Still, the system is the system, and the fact is that Kivlehan is a bit old as a prospect and hasn't hit AAA yet. I'm still excited to see how he does in 2015 though and I hope he tears up the Cactus league.
7. Shawn O'Malley (+4): Definition of minor league depth. He will probably stick around camp a while but it's impossible to see him on the opening day roster without an apoplectic amount of injuries.

So, the rankings of all non-roster invitees is as follows:

1. Endy Chavez (+13)
2. Joe Saunders (+10)
3. John Baker (+10)
4. Rafael Perez (+8)
5. Mark Lowe (+7)
6. Tyler Marlette (+7)
7. Stephen Landazuri (+7)
8. Justin Germano (+7)
9. Franklin Gutierrez (+6.75)
10. D.J. Peterson (+6.5)
11. Jordan Pries (+6)
12. Tyler Olson (+6)
13. Jordy Lara (+6)
14. Sam Gaviglio (+6)
15. Mike Dowd (+6)
16. Steve Baron (+5.5)
17. Carlos Rivero (+5)
18. Forrest Snow (+5)
19. Patrick Kivlehan (+4.5)
20. Shawn O'Malley (+4)

Frankly, I am surprised at what this simple rating system churned out. The top four scores pretty clearly reside with the four players most likely to earn opening day roster spots (though I do not expect any of them to earn roster spots). All that really says is that the most seasoned veterans the Mariners invited to camp are not idiots. They picked a place where they can compete for a roster spot. I will check in again with an updated list after a few games have been played, and detail how the ranking system will update based on spring performances.