This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- It’s not just shaping up to be the most anticipated Draft class under Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. A case could be made that it’s the most paramount under his front office’s tenure since he took over in December of 2015.

Aside from the bounty of picks he has so early, Dipoto has made it no secret that this is the deepest class he’s overseen.

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Seattle has four picks on the first day, including the Nos. 22, 29, 30 selections. The club could’ve traded two picks, but for a front office that values the tactic of draft, develop and trade, that was never on the table.

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“As an organization depth-wise, this is a great opportunity to keep restocking,” Mariners director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said.
“I think [Dipoto] values those Draft picks very heavily. And he probably would have seen me cry if we did give up one, because [it's] the first time we've been in a position to do something like this and have a lot of flexibility with it, maybe even moving some money around or getting an aggressive if the opportunity arises.”

The Mariners went super heavy on college arms in recent years and have seen the fruits of that strategy manifest in the form of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo and George Kirby, who has blossomed into an All-Star. But don’t be surprised if the organization strikes on high school talent early, much like it did last year when selecting Cole Young with its first-round pick.

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Here’s the rest of the analysis on the club’s approach, from Hunter: 

How big of an opportunity does the organization view this year’s class, particularly with so many picks so high?

Hunter: “We're producing internal players for promotions to the big leagues, and hopefully trades if we ever need that part of it as well. But right now, I mean, the way I really look at it is we have three picks in the top 30, just one of the best 30 players in the country, we're going to get three of them in the organization, and that's a pretty good place that you’re sitting at.”

Does that many picks so staggered allow you to plan easier?

Hunter: “Yes and no. We have a bigger pocket of players that we've really had to cover this year. In a deep Draft, I think it's also a very deep high school Draft, so our guys have had to bounce around the country quite a bit. ... If it's one pick, it would have been, 'OK, we could have had a narrow pocket.' But we're keeping everything wide open and being prepared for things that will fall our way. It's been a little bit, I would say, more intense this year than in most years.”

Being so open to high school selections, are you seeing anything different from those players?

Hunter: “Kids are so much more mature now. I mean, it's amazing how many times you go into the Draft room and say, 'This kid throws 98 [mph], but maybe go to college.' I mean, you're talking about high school kids like that. I think just the training age and the things that kids are exposed to, they're just getting so much bigger, stronger and faster. And they're so specialized right now. There's not a real margin, a real separation between the premium high school guys and the college guys that have had three years, physicality-wise.”