Kelenic deal could haunt Mets for years to come
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Watch long enough and you will see chunks of Jim Edmonds, large comparables to prime Grady Sizemore.
And the Mariners could not stop watching Jarred Kelenic. This is what an organization that has no present does. It imagines the future. And for the Mariners, Kelenic is front and center to their future. Their best prospect.
“He has a combination of talent and drive,” Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto said. “He wants to be the best player in the world. He doesn’t hide it. He is pretty audible about wanting to be the best player in the world.”
For the Mets, Kelenic is a looming nightmare. If Dipoto is right about Kelenic — and “gush” is an understatement for how he talks about the lefty-hitting outfielder — then Kelenic could become another Scott Kazmir: a Met traded while in the minors for too little who blossomed to excellence.
The Mets already h ave been underwh e l me d by their return from dealing Kelenic, Justin Dunn, Gerson Bautista and salary dumps of Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak to the Mariners last offseason for Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and $20 million toward Cano’s contract. Cano was injured and underwhelming. Diaz had about as poor a season as could be imagined for his skill level. The Mets will hope for better in 2020.
Meanwhile, the centerpiece of the return, Kelenic, “was an extremely talented guy,” Dipoto said. “He hits, hits for power, plays defense, runs. His work ethic is as Type-A as it gets. We could not be more impressed how quickly he got through our system. He didn’t just jump to Double-A, he was often the best player on the field in Double-A and it was obvious. He has the talent to get to the big leagues young. The second half of 2020 is a real possibility.”
K eleni cw as the sixth overall pick in 2018. He zoomed from Low-A to High-A to Double-A in 2019, accumulating 23 homers, 20 steals and a .904 OPS overall in his first full season of pro ball. He turned 20 in July. MLB.com has him as the majors’ 13th-best prospect.
Keep in mind that in 2017, Lewis Brinson was MLB.com’s No. 13 prospect and has so far been a major league dud. So it is one thing to project well, another to excel in the majors. But so far, this has been a horror-show trade for the Mets.
As for the other players Seattle received in its big deals last offseason with the Mets and Yankees (for James Paxton: Justus Sheffield, Erik Swanson, Dom Thompson-Williams):
Sheffield was good in spring training, terrible at Triple-A, got busted to Double-A, where he performed well and got back to the majors (5. 50 ERA, eight games, seven starts). Dipoto said the key for the lefty is still command, but that he has a rotation spot entering the spring.
Dunn will get a shot to earn a place after getting a cup of coffee in 2019 (2.70 ERA in four starts as an opener). The Mariners have no experienced righty starters and Dipoto really likes Dunn’s “swing-andmiss slider.”
Swanson failed as a starter (7.56 ERA) and did well as a reliever (3.28), and that is where he will be used in 2020. Thompson-Williams, an outfielder, did poorly at Double-A, and the Mariners are trying to alter his swing plane so he lifts the ball more.