Outfield prospect Carson Jones has decided to retire after three mostly underwhelming minor league seasons in the Mariners organization.
Giving due credit to Sports Illustrated‘s Jackson Roberts, Carson Jones has decided to leave the Mariners and retire from playing professional baseball. The news was recently officially confirmed under the outfielder’s transactions log on his MLB.com page.
Jones was selected by the Mariners in the 15th round of the 2023 amateur draft after four years at Virginia Tech. He had a tremendous career with the Hokies as he produced a .279 batting average and .973 OPS, including a .299 batting average and 1.044 OPS during his senior year.
Capable of playing in all three outfield spots, the 25-year-old seemed to offer some promise during his second season with the Mariners organization. In 103 games for Single-A Modesto, he batted .251, producing 13 home runs, 68 RBI and 41 walks on the way to a .751 OPS. (He also had 37 stolen bases.)
Writing on the wall for Carson Jones in 2025
However, in 2025 Jones took a step back after being promoted to High-A Everett, batting just .160 with a .552 OPS in 64 games. As a result, he decided that baseball was no longer for him and he retired with a career .216 batting average and .680 OPS across three minor league seasons with the M’s.
The Glen Allen, Virginia native’s struggles and subsequent retirement highlights one of the few weaknesses in the Mariners farm system in the outfield, with the two exceptions being MLB Pipeline top 100 prospects Lazaro Montes (43) and Jonny Farmelo (78). In any event, we wish Jones the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Long time Mariners minor leaguer joins Astros
The competition between the Mariners and Astros has only increased in recent years, with the two AL rivals being the only two AL teams to have at least 85 wins in each of the past five seasons. As such, any time a player from one of the teams decides to join the other, it’s entirely understandable if there ends up being some animosity towards that player from his previous fanbase.
However, you’d like to think there will be an exception to this when it comes to Freuddy Batista, who has signed a minor league deal with the Astros. Yes he was with the Mariners organization for nearly a decade between 2017-25, but he became a free agent last November and has the right to sign with whoever he wants to (or is prepared to offer him an opportunity).
Batista had been with the Mariners since he was 17, going on to play at various levels including 14 games in Double-A Arkansas last season. In fairness his production was solid for the most part, as he batted .258 with a .779 OPS in 445 combined minor league games for the M’s.
The Dominican Republic native’s prime position is catcher, but he has also seen some limited playing time at DH and first base, as well as even one appearance in left field. As with Jones, we wish him the best of luck moving forward.
Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography
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