The player that continues to be linked to the Mariners is prep shortstop Anthony Volpe. By all accounts, Volpe is quite intent on following his commitment to play at Vanderbilt and will only sign if he is offered a $3 million signing bonus.
The slot value for pick 20 is just over $3 million, so they could, in theory, afford that. But Volpe has also made it known he would prefer to play on the East Coast if he was selected this year. There is nothing the Mariners can do about that.
So you have a young, prep infielder who is considered by most to be a mid-2nd round pick who is demanding a large sum of money, doesn’t want to play on the West Coast and has a strong commitment to fall back on if all his ridiculous demands aren’t met.