The Mariners announced this afternoon they’ve claimed right-hander Adrian Sampson off waivers from the Cubs. They’ve also selected outfielder Steven Souza Jr. to the big leagues in place of Jarred Kelenic, who was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle also reinstated Sergio Romo from the 10-day injured list, optioned Danny Young and designated Stuart Fairchild and Yohan Ramirez for assignment to clear 40-man roster space for Sampson and Souza.
Kelenic’s demotion is the most notable of Seattle’s spate of moves. A former sixth overall pick and top prospect, Kelenic has yet to produce against big league pitching. He struggled to a .181/.265/.350 line over his first 377 MLB plate appearances last season, striking out in 28.1% of his trips while hitting only .216 on balls in play. The M’s surely hoped to see more from the left-handed hitting outfielder in the early going this season, but that hasn’t yet been the case.
Through 30 games, Kelenic owns just a .140/.219/.291 mark. The youngster has gone down on strikes 36 times while making contact on only 67.8% of his swings. That’s the 12th-lowest contact rate among 192 batters with at least 90 plate appearances, and the M’s have decided it’s time for a reset against Triple-A arms. It’s the second time in as many years that Kelenic has been optioned after scuffling against MLB pitching, but he responded well during a month-long stint in the minors last summer.
The timing of Kelenic’s latest option comes rather ironically as the M’s are headed to Queens for a weekend series with the Mets. New York, of course, originally drafted him and included him in the controversial Robinson Canó/Edwin Díaz swap. That looked to be a coup for Seattle given Kelenic’s prospect pedigree, but he’ll obviously need to perform better whenever the M’s bring him back to the big leagues. There’s plenty of time to do so, as he won’t turn 23 years old until July. Because of the canceled minor league season in 2020, the Wisconsin native has still only played 51 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
Barring an exceptionally lengthy stint, the demotion doesn’t seem likely to affect his path to free agency after the 2027 season. Kelenic entered the year with 105 days of big league service; players are credited with a full service year for spending 172 days on an MLB roster or injured list. He’s accrued approximately 36 more days this year, meaning he needs to be in the majors for around a month more to surpass the one-year threshold in 2022. How long this stay in Tacoma lasts will no doubt be determined in large part by Kelenic’s performance there, but it’s hard to imagine the M’s keeping him down until September barring some major struggles against Triple-A pitching.
In the meantime, Seattle will turn to the veteran Souza with Julio Rodríguez, Jesse Winker and Dylan Moore as outfield options. The 33-year-old has gotten sporadic MLB time with the Cubs and Dodgers over the past couple years, but he hasn’t played a full season in the majors since 2017. Signed to a minor league deal in Spring Training, Souza has gotten off to an excellent start with the Rainiers. He’s hitting .267/.417/.533 with five homers and a massive 19.8% walk rate in 22 games. The 14-18 M’s will see if he can carry over that production against big league arms to inject some life into an outfield that has underwhelmed.
Fairchild was part of that outfield mix very briefly. The 26-year-old was acquired from the Diamondbacks for cash in late April and appeared in three games, going hitless in a trio of plate appearances. A Seattle native, Fairchild was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2017 and has been traded twice in his young career. The M’s will have a week to deal him again or try to run him through outright waivers.
That’s also true of Ramirez, who has pitched in the bigs over the past three seasons. The right-hander owns a 3.97 ERA in 56 2/3 career innings, striking out a strong 28.6% of opponents. He’s also walked 15.2% of batters faced, however, and he’d been tagged for three homers in his first seven outings this year. The Mariners elected to move on, but he works in the mid-90s and has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so it’s possible another club takes a chance on him.
In his place, they’ll bring aboard a multi-inning option from the Cubs. Sampson started five of his ten appearances for Chicago last season, tossing 35 1/3 frames of 2.80 ERA ball. That came with an underwhelming 19.3% strikeout rate and an alarming 2.04 homers allowed per nine innings, but he pounded the strike zone and induced a fair amount of ground-balls. Chicago re-signed the righty to a minor league deal over the winter. He was selected to the big leagues on Sunday, pitched in one game, then was designated for assignment.
Kelenic scared of facing the Mets. Diaz was gonna strike him out on 3 pitches with his eyes closed
It’s easy to strike someone out if his eyes are closed.
Exactly what I thought. This is a weak move.
Yeah, I’m sure he went to the front office and asked to be demoted.
EdLose Diaz is a meme, lolmets got fleeced as per usual. Cope with the facts.
Right now that sounds like alternative facts. Things could change for both teams. For the most part, early this season, Sugar has been dominant, Canó’s in SD, Justin Dunn’s in Cincinnati and Kelenic hasn’t proven his value yet. Yes, the Mets are giving Canó a lot of money to play elsewhere for two years, but the biggest win for the Mets is they didn’t do what Seattle wanted in order to eat more of Canó’s contract. M’s would’ve done it if Jeff McNeil were in the deal instead of Gerson Bautista.
Bust overreaction in 3. 2. 1..
Hes the next Dustin Ackley, pretty obvoius
It’s obvoius you didn’t spell obvious
Sorry LFGMets , I was bored, slow day
Haha, I originally read obvoius in Curly’s voice and then Curls shows up! Betelgeuse in disgoise, nyuk nyuk!
But he did spell it, just incorrectly. I’m bored too.
I’m a victim of circumstance
Curls!!!! Are you comparing me to Shirley Temple?
After all, Curls just gotta have fun…
Aren’t we all?
sorry Ackley was never that terrible Actually the M’s have missed Ackley He never batted under .226 and he was 2nd in GoldGlove voting 2012 at 2b and 2014 in LF also His fielding % is second to none at 5 poitions OF , 1b and 2B .991fld% AND ANOTHER STAT NONE OF YOU KNOW ABOUT D,Ackley is #10 all time out of 1,394 mlb player’s since 1974 with bases loaded Batting Avg, .423 #10 all Time .
Dustin, that you??
Lmao no kidding. Who a) knows that, or b) takes the time to look that up
Hope all is well Dustin
no , Actually I’m his Father in law And yes i get tired of people saying Kelenic is the next Ackley because Dustin was never that bad , in 2014 after Cano replaced him at 2b Dustin was actually 2 nd in Gold Glove in LF , and hit the same amount of HR’s as cano that yr. but CAREER bases loaded AVG. since 1974 ,1,394 mlb players with at least 42 at bats with bases loaded Dustin is # 10 with a ..423 avg. NO OTHER MARINER IN THE TOP 10.
After the Pads sent 21yo CJ down, all I heard for 2 days was how big of a bust he was. Overreacting is apparently standard modus operandi nowadays.
Right you are, Gwynning. God help us if we were all judged by what we were as 21 or 22 year olds!
They do the same thing with Adell. Growth is not linear.
Adell was just way over-hyped.
Thus far in the MLB over multiple call ups, he hasn’t passed the eye test compared to the hype received. TBH his MiLB stats aren’t that impressive either.
I hope he eventually develops into an all-star OF.
My opinion: He should remain in AAA until he can cut down on strikeouts and clean up his OF play. I have no problem with him getting +500AB in AAA before joining the Angels again. Marsh and Ward are miles ahead in OF defense.
Kelenic and Adell are decent-ish comps with the K issues, but Adell has a worse wRC+ even with a babip that was 70 points higher. He’s also a significantly worse defensive outfielder. If I had to choose one, I’d go with Kelenic, less pressure on the bat to carry his value.
I think both need to stay I’m minors for at least rest of year to work on things. Trying to rush these guys and yo yo is not working.
Kelenic and Adell are decent-ish comps with the K issues
========================
Kelenic is more advanced, by a fair margin, imo. He was rushed a little, but his AAA stats were good. Even now, Adell is still close to that 200K/600 AB range. That won’t play in the majors.
Far different scenario than Abrams who was getting his initial taste of the bigs.
Kelenic has nearly 130 games under his belt. He’s hasn’t been bad, he’s been downright awful. BUST.
Two years ago, people were going on Angel threads and calling Ohtani a bust.
Growth is not linear.
Two years ago, people were going on Angel threads and calling Ohtani a bust.
==========================
Two years ago, Ohtani already had two good seasons under his belt, with a 134 OPS+ going into 2020.
Over-reacting to young players struggling has been modus operandi longer than any person on here and their grandparents have been alive.
There’s a really, really good reason why “post-hype sleeper” is a major buy-low player type in fantasy leagues. Almost every high-grade prospect doesn’t match their hype level.
OH MY GOD KELENIC IS THE BIGGEST BUST EVER AND HE MAKES RYAN LEAF LOOK LIKE A HALL OF FAME PLAYER IN COMPARISON! OH NO MY PEARLS! MY PRECIOUS PEARLS!
Was that a good enough overreaction? Or shall I fall to my knees and cry uncontrollably? Because that’ll cost extra.
10/10 response
I don’t think you can call a kid who is only 22 years old and was rushed up through the minors jumping levels “THE BIGGEST BUST EVER” and I know that he was being sarcastic in that comment but it was easy for me to grab that line.
I love how over a half season’s worth of ABs isn’t enough to show the guy isn’t struggling mightily.
Of course the opposite of bust overreaction is this holding out of hope this guy absolutely has to pan out because the LOL Mets gave up on him and some Seattle rapper wrote a song mocking them for the trade and it would look pretty foolish to mock a team only to wind up with a colossal bust.
Nearly 130 games and Kelenic has shown nothing. BUST.
He’s actually shown quite a bit. He’s a solid RF, runs the bases better than expected, and has the ability to hit really hard with good exit velocity.
However, he is constantly tweaking his batting stance and lacks any consistency. He has mechanical hitting issues which are keeping him from covering the plate and he doesn’t adjust his approach to attack breaking balls. All of those things are correctable, but will require time in the minors.
If you think he’s shown “nothing,” you aren’t actually watching. Everything xcfan said is true except he’s showing to be an elite defensive RF, not just solid.
If he can figure out how to hit breaking balls, he’ll be a legit starter because he’ll have a good OPS. He’ll never hit for a crazy average and probably won’t be a franchise cornerstone, but he could certainly be a worthwhile player.
Sorry, my rose colored glasses must have been fogged up…
Question: If Kelenic is a “colossal bust” after half a season of struggling, what status did Edwin Diaz have after 2019? After 2021? Does the 1/4 of a year of refound success miraculously wipe that 2.5 years away?
And I would agree how “some Seattle rapper” would look foolish to mock the Mets for the trade if (note: not “that”) Kelenic does end up a bust. I’m curious how that reflects upon you given Cano the last 2.5 seasons of PA and Diaz in all but the last 15 IP?
After all, even if Kelenic ends up a bust and Diaz really has come back, Cano has been one of the greatest busts in all of MLB history.
Kelenic will be fine, just needs time to get it together. Going down to Tacoma will be good for him.
He needs to stY there the year. This back and forth is not doing him any favors. Leave him there let him get his room and revisit it next off season. Same with Adell
Makes you wonder if Kelenic is also unvaxed and would not be able to make the trip to Toronto so sending him down will make sure he can keep playing.
If you look at his production you’d see that your comment is ridiculous and deserves and expletive filled response that would be moderated off this website. Kelenic looks LOST at the plate. Full stop. Nothing more to question or speculate on.
Actually animedad has a point. Yes, Kelenic was struggling and needed to be sent down. He is absolutely lost and swinging at everything except strikes. But, Jerry did say a day or two ago that there are a number of guys that are not eligible to make the trip to Toronto. The only reason that would be true is if they aren’t vaccinated. Kelenic is believed to be one of those guys. Might have just made sense to not expose him to NY when he’d have be sent down before Toronto. Not immediately saying its true, but it does make sense. I think we will see 2-4 Mariner players put on the restricted list before that series.
Players unvaxxed is very smart in my opinion , That’s one of the reasons K, Seager retired after 35hr’s ,
The point is whether he is vaxxed or not, his lack of production at the plate is unrelated. So to “wonder” in that context makes no sense.
Are you afraid of over the counter medication also, because vaccines statistically present no higher risk of adverse effects than what anyone can get without a prescription.
just get inline sheep , read vears reports vaccines have killed more than the virus , ( bob saggit , gilford Godfrred) Remdesivir is the fauchi / gates kill drug also , and moleconal antibody treatment, Ivermectin and hydroxychloriquin. actually work and saved many and our government illegalized them.
Kelenic will turn out to be a solid player. He’s got the talent. Just not gonna be a stud.
Kelenic’s most important stat- 22. His age.
Period
yeah, but Ryan Leaf was also 22 as a rookie. coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Wasn’t Trout 22 once?
Trout has always been 27! :eye poke:
27? That’s a very high number. It’s also how many championships the Yankees have won!
Nah, it’s a sub-.170 BA
Kelenic needs regular at bats, but Seattle need to contend. So this is the right move. I’m not ready to give up on Kelenic just yet.
It’s a weak move by the front office due to the timing. Weak and hilarious.
the timing? he’s struggling and they need more hitting. this is exactly when you make the move.
He could have been demoted weeks ago. Or started in the minors. They don’t want him facing the Mets. That’s a fact.
They don’t want him facing any ML team. FTFY!!
Kelenic was called into the office and said I am being sent down aren’t I? He agreed with what was said about his hitting. He got locked up twice on 2 ABs on strike 3 the day before. He needs to go down and relax and get his confidence back.
You can call him a bust that is your choice. He needs to grow up a bit learn to deal with failure and fix it. Not keep getting more frustrated each at bat. Some of you act like a player at 22 should come out and not struggle. You keep calling him a bust but I have confidence in him. Not worth much but is my opinion.
I think a lot of fans fail to realize that it isn’t common for 22-year-olds to find success early in MLB.
Uh… “Weeks ago” was the start of the season.
And then there’s the issue of the starting RF, Haniger, going down first with COVID and then with an injury. Someone was needed and Kelenic clearly has exponentially higher potential than all other “options” available. Given the circumstances of the first few weeks of the season, he was the best option.
And if the issue was just only that they didn’t want him facing the Mets, they’d have just benched him or come up with a phantom injury with “day-to-day” status.
No, they sent him down because of the convergence of other factors:
– He’s been struggling for another ~100 PA
– Sending him down for about as long as he was down last year will bump his arbitration clock back another year.
wouldn’t mind Ramirez in Philly
I found this out a couple of days ago. Did this just break?
One look at these young players and all they scream is arrogance. Glad he stinks and hopefully he humbles himself a bit with the demotion.
I would think that Ramirez is going to get acquired or claimed by somebody. He may just need a change of scenery.
Where are all the people who were once clamoring for these prospects to make opening day rosters? Maybe teams aren’t simply manipulating service time. Or maybe they are. Either way, maybe it’s best for the development of these young players to actually start the season in the minors and earn a promotion.
Kelenic does have 17 HR 15 doubles and 2 triples in 473 MLB ABs and at only 22 it just shows me he hasn’t learn to pick up all the various pitches at the MLB level.
Give him time…
Kelenic may make it, The improvement in his defense is an encouraging sign.
But… he doesn’t feel close, right now. Along with Toro, Torrens, Raleigh, Brash, the M’s build is feeling rickety.
Gilbert, Kirby, Julio ain’t gonna do it.
Suarez and Winker need to step it up. IF ‘they’ were hitting alittle better, I think things would be just alittle different in the standings(3-4 gm diff)
Toro isn’t a dude that needs to be banked on; Torrens was less important to the Nola trade than France (who should be considered part of that core); Raleigh isn’t a guy I ever believed in big time, but he’s young; Brash always profiled better as a high leverage RP; Kelenic is 22; and JP is part of the core.
M’s still have Noelvi Marte, Harry Ford, Emerson Handock, Levi Stoudt, and Alberto Rodriguez who fall into different top 150 lists. They also have a ton of payroll flexibility.
Toro is currently suffering from really unlikely BIP results as every part of his line looks good except the .146 BABIP. He’s always had a low BABIP, but we’re talking .250-.275 low, not .146.
Torrens is, was and has never been intended to be anything more than a stop-gap C (or… “C”) with the longshot chance of having the bat to move off to a COF/ 1B/ DH. With the M’s never talking up giving him practice reps elsewhere and starting the year with 3 “catchers”, that tells me they weren’t really all that interested.
20 IP out of Brash is nothing and he’s been pegged as an eventual RP convert every scouting report ever since before he was drafted.
The concerns around Kelenic and Raleigh’s struggles are indeed appropriate (Kelenic more than Raleigh), but it’s more of a concern the team’s today results as opposed to the rebuild because they both coincide with their positions’ starters getting injured.
When you’re divin’ in the Cubs dumpster, you know things are bad.
Of the six players that the Cubs have DFA’d this year, five have been claimed.
If he doesn’t start hitting, the clock on his free agency won’t matter.
there comes a time when you have to stop diggin a hole.
souza for kelenic is the right choice, for now.
lewis, lewis,lewis…
On Lewis, he was supposed to come back as mostly DH to help ease his knee back into it. With Haniger down for a while *and* Kelenic’s struggles continuing, it puts more concern on that for me.
One of the dangers of the Prospect obsession, developed simply by owners who tank and modify their fan base with “dreams of the future”, is players begin to think they belong in the majors. before they’ve earned it. Getting to the majors is hard; staying in the majors is harder. It’s the unfortunate bi-product of Baseball America, MLB pipeline, etc., which owners love because they aid the snake oil selling of tanking; essentially selling the future while charging top dollar for the present. Basically. it’s accepting a low quality meal at a restaurant. because the owner tells you because of that, he’ll be to afford to serve a higher quality product next time. It’s utter nonsense of course, but MLB has gotten away with it for years, and continue to do so. In other words we, can’t sign Freddie Freeman, because we’ve got Tristain Cassas coming. In any other universe where the earth revolves around the sun, it’s preposterous.
But they sold it well. Kudoos for that.
Casas will be an above average hitter from the jump once he gets to Boston. I can feel it.
Well said…
Of course. Except for pitching, you never sign long-term contracts where you have your best prospect playing.
Yeah. That’s been standard for decades now. It’s the combination of
1. Not wanting to block the prospect and
2. The FA will either be even more likely to demand a NTC or not want to sign with you to begin with
This has become more prominent recently not because of the information available to fans about prospects through things like BA (which is probably decades older than that poster would have guessed), but because the disparity between FA players salaries and pre-Arbitration player salaries has grown exponentially and because FA contracts also include things like NTC much more often.
From my RS perspective, I’m not sure we have any outfielders in the minors. So we need outfielders, a catcher, and an ace, if possible. I’m not going to spend on Freeman unless I have no choice.
Look at the standings. You have no choice.
If they had done the right thing and manipulated his service time he would have had the AAA experience he needed by now.
Kelenic turned 18 after his Jr year in HS, Adell who is only 3 months older graduated a year earlier. Kelenic was older than the competition he faced in HS. He has speed, but no basestealing instinct, he can field, but proved he cant play CF, he has bat speed, but lacks contact skills on anything with movement. 5 Tool player, but the tools arent working at the MLB level. Maybe instead of the minors he can ask to become a scout and be the next GM of the Oakland A’s. Beane slashed .219/.246/.296 in 301 AB’s, Kelenic .173/.256/,338 in 423 AB’s………and can someone correct this guys height? Julio Rodriguez is listed at 6’3″ and Kelenic at 6’1″ Look at any pic of them both, no way. Look at Kelenic at the plate, this guy is 5’9″
Kelenic needs time in the minors, I did not realize this recent stat. In Low A ball he was 3 years younger than the average/ moved to High A ball and he was 4 years younger/ 5 years younger in AA than the average and nearly 7 years younger than the average AAA player last year. And this is with the lost Covid year, he probably needed nearly 500 additional AB’s in the minors but everyone was clamoring for him due to what Mathers(the meathead) said about holding him back due to time accrual.
Some guys have it, some guys don’t. Right now, you’re silly if you don’t have your doubts. Are you a silly boy?
Kelenic was also very vocal while still in A ball that he and others in A ball should have been up with the Mariners back then. It was just immaturity, he wasn’t ready but his mouth didn’t check in with his skill development before he started to yap
I’m 6’0 and when I met Kelenic face to face to get his autograph, I thought we were the same height.
https://images.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/03262022_1_153827.jpg?d=780×520
Definitely not a 2” difference, possible that JRod is taller than the 6’3” he is listed at but Kelenic looks small compared to standing catchers and umpires in games.
I’m excited for this weekend’s series to watch a real outfield prospect, Julio Rodriguez, who is succeeding already despite being one of the youngest players in baseball.
Julio and Kelenic are on pretty similar paths. Julio actually has a worse K/W ration and fewer HRs.
no GM in baseball would take Jarred Kelenic over Julio Rodriguez. Rodriguez can play CF, Kelenic can’t, Rodriguez can steal bases, Kelenic not nearly as fast, Rodriguez is actually hitting at the MLB level, Kelenic has not. It’s not close, it’s not the same path. When Lewis & Haniger comes back, the best OF/DH foursome the M’s have for a playoff run are Winker, Rodriguez, Lewis and Haniger. Moore and Frazier have OF/IF versatility. The team does not need Kelenic. Besides, Kelenic has no time for baseball, too busy making 159 podcasts and selling tee shirts. Love to see what old timers like Ripken would have done to a guy who can’t hit his weight but has time to fluff up his hair for podcasts. Seems like Kelenic wants to be a celebrity so bad, maybe it’s time to grow up and just be a ballplayer.
I definitely like J-Rod over Kelenic, for all the reasons you cited. But I don’t think his peripherals are as good as his numbers.
Past that, I can’t tell you how annoyed I am at guys coming up thinking they’ve already arrived. I think of my Raiders with Ruggs and his Porsche, and the other rookie that showed up his first day in camp in a Rolls Royce. IIRC, and got traded for nothing two weeks later.
How about succeeding first, and acting like a star afterwards?
If they elected Souza over you….you must really suck.
biggest problem Ackley had was after being the m’s mvp for his rookie season .273avg hitting better than Ichiro, 2012 was his sofhmore slump and no veteran leadership no one to help him get thru it so he hired a private hitting coach catcher josh bard’s brother that wasnt proven and screwed him totally up for that year and the start of 2014. he never officially retired yet and is listed as an unrestricted FA. enjoys his 180 acres and beautiful home in Mi. raising his 3 kids with my Daughter. Hes very happy and still to this Day is the most Humble Individual I have ever Met.
Well said, Dustin!
sorry im his Father in law , by the way his 7 yr old son started playing baseball 4 wks ago , they just had their 1 st game 2 days ago , 1st ab a triple , currently hitting .1000 4-4 . and tge coach doesn’t know that hes coaching a 6 yr mlb players son , let alone a previous Yankee players son. lol
Cue trade proposals of angels trying to give up adell, Mariners giving up kelenic in a Frankie montas trade
Didn’t Montas have PED suspension? Angels will pass on those guys all day.
Baseball is all about adjustment. If you don’t adjust, you will bust.
Kolonic is not adjusting…and it shows…
Kelenic needed to go back to the farm and regroup. Souza stinks. Will be cut after a few weeks. How he keeps getting chances amazes me. Sampson is a passable 13th pitcher on a major league roster. A swing man always has some value. Spot starts/ long relief.
Kelenic is on track for 2027 free agency?
Actually, he’s on a pace to achieve that markedly sooner.
You know what I haven’t seen in a while? The snarky comments by some of the MLB-R writers implying that, every time a kid doesn’t get promoted, it is because of service time manipulation. Nope, I haven’t seen one of those about Kelenic lately.
sorry im his Father in law , by the way his 7 yr old son started playing baseball 4 wks ago , they just had their 1 st game 2 days ago , 1st ab a triple , currently hitting .1000 4-4 . and tge coach doesn’t know that hes coaching a 6 yr mlb players son , let alone a previous Yankee players son. lol
Kelenic is irrelevant to us. He’s already two years removed. We’ve moved on. Seems like we made out on the deal after all, acquiring Diaz.