I pulled BA's 2003 Prospect Handbook off the shelf yesterday to see what they had to say about Franklin Gutierrez, and then moved over to look at their take on the Seattle system.  They had the M's 9th in their talent rankings that year (having ranked them 2nd the year before); here were the players they tagged as our top 30 prospects:

1.  Rafael Soriano, RHP
2.  Chris Snelling, OF
3.  Jose Lopez, SS
4.  Shin-Soo Choo, OF
5.  Clint Nageotte, RHP
6.  Aaron Taylor, RHP
7.  Travis Blackley, LHP
8.  Rett Johnson, RHP
9.  Greg Dobbs, 3B/OF
10.  Jamal Strong, OF
11.  Ryan Christianson, C
12.  Luis Ugueto, SS
13.  Willie Bloomquist, IF/OF
14.  Ismael Castro, 2B
15.  Kevin Olore, RHP
16.  Michael Garciaparra, SS
17.  Kenny Kelly, OF
18.  Ryan Anderson, LHP
19.  Jeff Heaverlo, RHP
20.  J. J. Putz, RHP
21.  Allan Simpson, RHP
22.  Bobby Madritsch, LHP
23.  Aaron Looper, RHP
24.  Rene Rivera, C
25.  Craig Anderson, LHP
26.  Juan Done, RHP
27.  Bobby Livingston, LHP
28.  Jon Nelson, 1B/OF
29.  Troy Cate, LHP
30.  Ryan Ketchner, LHP

I was struck by this comment on Lopez:  "Lopez' defensive abilities have been apparent since he made his pro debut.  Managers said he had the best infield arm in the Cal League, and he has fine hands, range and actions at shortstop."  Having seen him play short at Everett, I agree with that assessment; I still have trouble understanding exactly how that Lopez turned into this Lopez.

As for Gutierrez, there wasn't all that much of interest in the paragraph on him, but I was struck by this line:  "There are some holes in his swing he needs to address, though the Dodgers think his aggressiveness is one of his strongest assets" (emphasis mine).  That explains a lot.