We have already updated you on a few prospect lists that came out leading up to the 2012 season, including Baseball America and MLB.com.

Much like the college football polls, there are a lot of these, and it can get confusing, but we wanted to pass along a few more to get you excited for the upcoming baseball season.

Baseball Prospectus unveiled their Top 101 Prospects today, and four Mariners were listed:

• C Jesus Montero (#7)
• RHP Taijuan Walker (#14)
• LHP Danny Hultzen (#35)
• LHP James Paxton (#59)

Additionally, author Kevin Goldstein noted on his Twitter feed that infielder Nick Franklin would also likely be included in the top 125 players.

Jesus Montero is listed as a consensus top prospect heading into the 2012 season. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

ESPN.com and Keith Law also unveiled their annual Top 100 prospects (hidden behind ESPN’s pay wall), with five Mariners listed among the top 100.

• C Jesus Montero (#9)
• RHP Taijuan Walker (#24)
• LHP Danny Hultzen (#30)
• LHP James Paxton (#51)
• INF Nick Franklin (#57)

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times has a nice write-up on the ESPN.com piece in his Hot Stone League Blog.

- JE