The Mariners went and got their power bat from the middle rounds of the draft, and they didn't try to save a dime doing it. Jim Callis confirmed Seattle signed sixth-round pick Henry Ford, a corner infielder out of Tennessee, for $335,900 -- exactly the full slot value attached to pick No. 191.
Jim Callis broke the signing news along with Ford's power numbers.
Ford's path here is a little unusual. He started at Virginia, where he broke Mark Reynolds' school freshman home run record with 17 bombs, then saw his power dip as a sophomore and went unpicked in the 2025 draft despite hitting .362. Instead of running it back at Virginia, he transferred to Tennessee for a one-and-done junior season -- and it worked. Ford slashed .293/.360/.603 with 20 home runs, 15 doubles and 57 RBI in 58 games for the Vols, numbers that put him firmly on Seattle's radar by draft day.
That 20-homer spring is the headline tool, and it's not a one-year fluke -- Ford has hit 48 home runs across his three college seasons between Virginia and Tennessee. At 6-foot-5, 220-plus pounds, he's built like the kind of guy who's going to keep doing damage against pro pitching once he settles in, even if the swing still needs some polish and he profiles more as a corner outfielder than a true third baseman given his below-average speed.
Paying full slot on a sixth-rounder isn't nothing. Teams routinely shave a few thousand off of picks in that range to redirect bonus pool money toward bigger swings earlier in the draft, so ponying up the full $335,900 for Ford signals Seattle genuinely wanted him in the fold rather than treating him as a bargaining chip. For a farm system that's been searching for impact power bats, a 20-homer college junior with a track record of hitting for pop at two different SEC-and-ACC-level programs is a nice depth piece to bank on.
Now it's about developing that raw strength into a usable pro hit tool. If the swing tightens up in the org's system, Ford's the kind of name that can climb draft boards fast the way plus-power bats from mid-rounds sometimes do. For now, he's just another arm -- or in this case, bat -- added to a Mariners system that clearly isn't done chasing power up and down the roster.