The Mariners announced that they have reinstated infielder Shed Long from the 60-day injured list, optioned outfielder Jarred Kelenic to Triple-A Tacoma and transferred infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty to the 60-day IL with right shoulder inflammation.
Kelenic, one of the game’s most touted prospects, reached the majors for the first time in the middle of May. Unfortunately, the 21-year-old could only produce an .096/.185/.193 line over his first 92 plate appearances in the bigs, punching out at a 28.3 percent clip along the way. Kelenic drew walks at a solid 8.7 percent clip, connected on a pair of homers and went 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts, but it was still far from the debut most hoped to see.
Of course, it’s easy to forget that even the most-hyped prospects in the sport don’t hit the ground running all the time. Kelenic in particular was rather aggressively pushed through the minors, perhaps in part due to former Mariners president Kevin Mather rather blatantly broadcasting the organization’s plans to hold him in the minors for service time purposes, regardless of performance in Spring Training or early in the season.
Kelenic played just 21 Double-A games in 2019, and while he was with the club’s alternate site in 2020, he didn’t actually play in competitive games against other organizations last year. The delayed start to the minor league season meant more of the same intra-squad action for Kelenic to begin the 2021 campaign, and while that certainly carries some developmental value, it’s not the same as actual competition against other clubs. He utterly destroyed Triple-A pitching when the minor league season finally got underway in May, but he only played in six games before being summoned to the Majors.
The service time issue raised by Mather shined a spotlight on Kelenic’s ascension to the Majors, so it’s worth looking at just how a return to Triple-A will now impact his service clock. Kelenic was already guaranteed to finish the season shy of one year of service, so it’s unlikely his path to free agency will be further delayed by this demotion. He was always going to finish this year with between zero and one year of service, finish the 2022 season between one and two years, the 2023 season between two and three years, and so on, up until the completion of the 2027 season.
Kelenic accrued 26 days of Major League service time in his first run through the big leagues. In order for that free-agent calculus to change, he’d need to spend fewer than 146 days in the Majors between 2021 and 2022 combined. That seems decidedly unlikely, barring an untimely major injury or injuries sustained while playing at the minor league level. What today’s demotion could do, however, is impact whether Kelenic eventually qualifies as a Super Two player who’d be eligible for arbitration four times (assuming the arbitration system as we know it remains intact in the next collective bargaining agreement, which isn’t a given).
Super Two designation is awarded to the top 22 percent of players (in terms of service time) who have between two and three years of service in a given season. Generally speaking, prospects who are called up in mid-to-late June and stick in the big leagues end up falling just shy of Super Two status. Kelenic’s early-May promotion had him on track for Super Two status, but if he were to spend another four to six weeks in the minors, he could fall into a more traditional arbitration schedule.
There’s obviously no indication as to how long the club plans to keep him down for at the moment, and he’ll probably control his own fate to some extent. If he immediately takes the Pacific Coast League by storm and continues hitting near the .370/.414/.630 pace he did in his brief Triple-A showing earlier this year, his stay in the minors could prove brief. If Kelenic’s struggles persist in Tacoma, however, it’s feasible that the early struggles could cost him one trip through arbitration.
With Kelenic now back in Tacoma and Kyle Lewis facing a prolonged absence due to another knee injury, the Mariners’ promising young outfield has a much different look. Fellow top prospect Taylor Trammell is back for a second look after dominating Triple-A himself (the exact path the Mariners no doubt hope Kelenic will travel in the coming weeks). He’ll handle center field. Mitch Haniger has been excellent in right field all season and should remain the primary option there, though he’s also a logical trade candidate, particularly if the Mariners slip further below .500. (They’re currently 30-31.) Seattle also recently got 26-year-old Jake Fraley back from a notable hamstring strain, so he could step into Kelenic’s spot in left. Utilityman Donovan Walton could see some occasional time there, and Long has logged time in left field in the past as well.
Speaking of the now-25-year-old Long, he’s now set for his 2021 debut after spending months working back from the surgery he underwent on his right tibia last September. The former Reds prospect impressed in his first major league action in 2019, when he batted .263/.333/.454 with five home runs and three stolen bases in 168 plate appearances, but he was unable to build on that in 2020 as he attempted to play through a stress fracture that eventually led to that September surgery.
Long took 128 plate appearances last summer but posted a disastrous .171/.242/.291 with three homers and four steals before landing on the injured list. It’s admirable that he tried to gut things out, but the injury was clearly hindering him at the plate. He’ll now get a fresh chance, presumably at full health, to prove he’s more the 2019 version of himself than the 2020 version.
“Kelenic has been dominant in the minors, though, and if he rebounds there, he should return to Seattle sometime soon.”
Either that or he will be proven to be an overhyped AAAA player that might actually make the Mets the winner of that deal.
Justin Dunn is going off recently too and is proving to potentially be a SP long term
I love Dunn, have since the Mets drafted him, and am not salty about losing him. It was a dumb trade on our part and I still want to see him succeed. That said, if he’s going to stick, he really needs to cut down on the walks in a big way. His BABIP is also likely unsustainable. His 4.58 FIP is between his ERA and his xFIP and seems a good picture of his actually performance.
Every day, Mets fans pray for the failure of another human.
If anyone one knows failure it’s pretty much fans of any NY team not named the Yankees
Every day people make foolish assumptions about what team someone roots for with absolutely no evidence. It is possible to have an opinion about a trade without being a fan of either team involved.
Besides, nothing in my comment says anything about me wishing failure upon anyone. To continue your irrelevant religious metaphor, I was just pointing out that Kelenic might not be the messiah that some people have hoped for.
He’s 21. Anyone who thought he was gunna be Ken Griffey Jr this year was dumb, anyone thinking he is garbage now is dumb.
Good comment man….this site is full of armchair GM’s
People don’t seem to understand the difference between being good enough and being ready. Kelenic is a perfect example; everyone can see his tools are good enough to be at the MLB level, but he just isn’t ready to use them correctly.
He needs more experience, end of story.
Ken Griffey Jr. had a .583 OPS in his first 58 PA’s too.
While your point is made, Kelenic’s is a ghastly .378 over 92 PAs.
Couple other HoFers with poor starts to their career: Brooks Robinson, Koufax, Maddux, Ozzie Smith (at the plate, anyway), etc. Check out Dazzy Vance, who did practically nothing until he turned 31, for some real fun.
So? Were you expecting real GMs to hang out here?
Are you saying that you are not a Mets fan?
Exactly, another Mariner who went through a similar–though not as “under the microscope”–was Alex Rodriguez. He was 18 in 1995 when he came up played 17 games and had a .206 average before being sent down to AAA Calgary and Rainiers. He was brought up again in August and in 1996 was the starting SS. Obviously, there is some “shade” to his history as when he went to the minors was when he supposedly started “taking stuff to hit better” but he also needed some at bats to get ready for MLB level pitching.
Yeah, we all remember how dominant Edwin Díaz was that first year in Queens. Sometimes it just takes time.
It’s always so weird how people erase Justin Dunn from that deal, too. Kelenic was the headliner, yeah, but it’s not like he was the only prospect the Mets gave up.
Kelenic and little Jo Adell are proving themselves overrated so far.
If the MLBPA wants things to change regarding prospects being held back due to service time manipulation, prospects like Kelenic have to start RAKING right away when they come up. Zero exceptions.
So far, Kelenic is the biggest failure of 2021, with Cam Maybin a distant second with his failed Mets tenure. Can’t forget Will Craig’s historic blunder as well. That’s an all-time failure though, and Kelenic could still be at least a backup outfielder if he gets another chance.
Not sure who’s more overrated, prospects with less than a hundred MLB at bats or commenters who call major league athletes “little”.
Maybe even commenters who’s posts seem to spawn with one like every time!
That’s a bunch of cr@p. Athletes on women’s sports teams have plenty of killer instinct. And a name doesn’t mean a thing. That’s one of the stupidest comments I’ve read in a while.
Salty much? The guy has had less than 100 mlb ABs and he is 21. Sorry but this deal will look extremely lopsided in 5-10 years if not sooner. Go be salty somewhere else. K bye
Wouldn’t Mike Trout and Vlad Jr. both have counted as failures by this standard? It’s 83 at bats for Kelenic, over literally less than a month. And I can guarantee you, no one outside of Mets fandom counts Cameron Maybin as the second biggest failure in baseball (how many actually knew he’d played for them this year?).
Nobody cried about service time manipulation with Trout though. If the MLBPA wants to win this argument in the next round of negotiations, I don’t care if Kelenic has to get on the Bonds Steroid Plan, but HE HAS TO KILL THE BALL RIGHT AWAY. Have him take some undetectable form of PEDs… anything to get him to rake. Top prospects absolutely CANNOT fail if the MLBPA wants to win negotiations this offseason.
Every front office exec in baseball is now saying “told you so” to the MLBPA because it’s clear that Kelenic wasn’t ready, and now that Mariners executive will probably file a lawsuit to get his job back.
I’m not sure top prospects succeeding or failing from the get-go has anything to do with the major issue of service time. How they do in year 1 shouldn’t affect whether they reach free agency after year 4 or year 6. Even if you’re saying top prospects failing gives teams cover to keep them in the minors longer, I think it ignores how it affects the not-top prospects who crack the major leagues.
As for Mather… I’d suggest going back and forcing yourself to listen to all of his crappy comments. His thoughts on Kelenic wasn’t the reason he had to resigned. Not even one of the top three reasons.
He resigned. He would have to sue himself,
My question is:
Who the heck had big expectations for Cameron Maybin in 2021? What did I even read there? I have so many questions.
95 ABs & he’s a failure. IF he gets another chance he can be a 4th outfielder. Give me a break. Many Allstar’s & HOFs failed in their 1st year or 2. Tony Perez & Mike Schmidt for example.
Sometimes prospects hit the floor running, sometimes they don’t. Only someone who doesn’t know the first thing about baseball puts a lot of weight when they don’t.
There are a lot of clueless baseball fans out there.
It’s less significant than strike one. It’s not meaningless, neither is it significant
What the hell kind of expectations did you have for Cam Maybin?? You should maybe sit the next couple out, champ.
Obviously doing better than going 1-for-28. Most NL starting pitchers hit better than that this year. Time for “Killa Cam” to sit the rest of this one out.
Dude. What? Cameron Maybin is in his mid 30’s. Career .250 hitter. He’s played in 9 games this year. If you had high expectations for him, they were not warranted. Meanwhile Kelenic has less than 100 career ABs in the bigs. And only 7 games at AAA. He is only 21 bro. Mike Trout hit near .220 in his first 135 AB’s and he turned out pretty good after a trip back to AAA.
How is Kelenic s failure? They took a chance (and under some pressure) and promoted him early. He’s not ready yet. I wouldn’t expect him to be. There’s no “failure” here.
I checked out at Cam Maybin. What???
Seriously, who had high expectations for Cameron Maybin in 2021? That’s like me saying, I have “high expectations” for Billy Hamilton or Jonathan Lucroy before he got cut.
What do Will Craig & Cameron Maybin have to with Kelenic?
Even if Kelenic flops, I think the Mariners still win the deal. Justin Dunn has been their second best SP this year and is only getting better… That Cano contract has turned out to be absolutely horrendous for the Mets. After watching Kelenic stumble to a sub 100 batting average, I still think he is going to pan out. Many MLB vets go through a rough stretch of 40-50 ABs. Kelenic has put together many good at bats in his 92 PA, decent amount of hard contact, a lot of bad luck in his first 50 PA or so.
Firing their GM looks terrible now. Poor guy sure didn’t deserve that.
Can he get rehired now or is it tough toenails for him?
That’s not the only reason he got fired.
People expect top prospects to become superstars from day one, and that doesn’t always happen. With some, it definitely does, but it’s much more common for guys to struggle in the majors at first as they adjust to new pitching and high expectations. The guys that rake from the start just overshadow it.
Kelenic will be fine. The path to a successful career is rarely linear.
Or he’ll be like Chris Taylor and Mike Zunnino and find more success after Seattle.
It’s 92 ABs. Relax
Shedding Cano’s salary alone made that a win for Seattle.
But Kelenic’s tools are real and he’s just 21 years old. There’s plenty of time for him to learn, adjust, and dominate.
Kelenic might be a AAAA type player
look up Brandon Wood former Angel from 2003 – 2009 his AAA #’s were screaming out power hitter – but couldnt put it together in majors….Wood was slated as a top prospect reaching #1 for a few years too. Wood was 22 by the time he reached MLB
Kelenic might be a 4A type player. As could Mackenzie Gore, Wander Franco or any other top prospect. That’s really just a nonsense comment. He’s 21 and was promoted extremely aggressively. He played 6 AAA games. Give him some more time against upper level pitching. His first taste of failure as a professional happened against ML pitching.
He was rushed up. Like the article says, Mather’s comments didn’t do them any favors.
Getting rid of the Cano contract and presence makes the M’s the winner.
Another overrated and overhyped prospect. The argument for trout is laughable he was 19 years old and went from single a to majors in one season. Kelenic is 21 adell was 22 not in same boat at all. In my opinion you don’t become a prospect until you make it to the show and produce. Until then your a nobody.
Imagine thinking someone is still good after performing so poorly in all areas and facets like kelenic has he is one step short of adell for worst start to a career. Overvaluing tools is prime mistake for most scouts, loud tools don’t always turn into tatis jr. He won’t be a complete bust but something closer to Gavin lux as a serviceable big leaguer.
You seem like the type of person who wants to cancel all night games cuz you see one cloud in the sky at noon
Kelenic is 21 and basically went from AA to the majors. I would say that is similar Trout’s progression…
Also, how does it make sense to consider a prospect as someone who is producing in the bigs. I think by definition, a prospect is someone who has yet to reach the bigs, and is assessed on their potential as gauged through minor league play, and scouting. Once you are producing in the bigs you graduate from prospect status into a full blown professional big leaguer. To judge a prospect’s future based on their first 92 plate appearances, 3 years out of high school, is foolish to say the least.
Trout was 19 kelenic is 21 not close to the same. 2 years in baseball time is a eternity. By age 20 trout was an all star. Kelenic could hope to do the same by the time he is 25. Prospects are worthless until they produce, could be why padres always have a top 10 farm yet cang field a winner (there run from 2019-2021 was due to trading for mlb caliber talent). Tatis is the first prospect they got right since agon.
He has 92 Plate appearances in AA and 29 in AAA. That’s less than 5 weeks of games above A ball. This is simply not enough time to determine competence at AAA level not to mention dominance. He is 21, let him spend the summer at Tacoma and call him up again in September. He will benefit from seeing more breaking pitches.
I’m a Mets fan and I am sure that he will be a major league outfielder, but right now he simply is outmatched at the plate.
There ya go. Seattle fans got what they wanted, and Kelenic failed to produce in a limited playing stint. As usual, though, you can’t call this a failure, sometimes it takes guys a while to figure it out in the majors. God knows my Angels have had plenty of AAAA guys …
Sucks that Kelenic had to go down but it will be good for him. Get some much needed seasoning in AAA and he’ll be mashing in the bigs before we know it.
Remember, guys like Vlad jr, mike trout, and many others struggled to start their careers. He has a lot of time to prove the haters wrong
Mike Schmidt Willie Mays both had rough starts also
Please don’t ever put Jarrred Kelenic in A Willie Mays comparison. Maybe a Paul Blair.
Everyone always points out the successful players that had rough starts. But he could also end up like any of the hundreds of players that struggled and DIDN’T become great players.
I don’t hate the guy, I only hate the people that have appointed him a “can’t miss” star before he ever did anything.
Don’t like or dislike Kelenic. I do feel bad what happened to Mather.
Omg, he did a lot more wrong than that.
oregonlive.com/mlb/2021/02/seattle-mariners-ceo-ke…
He proved his incompetence with the Kelenic comment and the language barrier blunder. The guy was a doofus.
What happened to Mather? You mean the conditioning that made him a money-hoarding, racist narcissist?
Yeah, I didn’t lose any sleep over his departure and any Mariner fan with an IQ over 60 didn’t, either.
Trout was also 19 not 21 huge difference
again, we needed to chill on this guy. he’ll figure it out. he’s not Mike Trout or anything, but he’ll be a good player in time.
Mike Trout was actually sent back down to the minors at one point as well,
and he wasnt good in general in 2011. im just saying as far as prospect pedigree goes. people are a bit too bullish on Kelenic.
@stephen trout was 19 kelenic is 21 please stop with the disrespect to trout.
He’s less Mike Trout, more Dustin Ackley.
Said no one with any real idea of what they are talking about
Dustin Ackley was a big can’t miss prospect as well number two pick in the draft actually. Never became much of a major leaguer and he’s 33 and out of the game. I see no reason his name shouldn’t be mentioned in the overall conversation.
This guy went from a first rounder many barely knew who was to a super hyped top ten prospect in such a short amount of time. Small sample sizes folks. Calm down.
its kinda funny the double standard. some guys dominate for years but dont rank high, and some guys have one good year and suddenly are a cant miss prospect. Kelenic isnt either, in reality, though i still think his prospect rankings are overinflated.
For anyone who follows the MLB draft, Kellenic was highly thought of by all of the draft experts. I think he went 5th or 6th overall in the draft, so I wouldn’t say he was barely known. Then again, not many people follow the MLB draft; especially for high school draftees, so I do see your point there.
It’s the “New York effect.” The New York teams rarely pick in the top ten, so when they do their prospects are over hyped like tenfold.
Mather wasn’t lying.
this just proves what the rational fan knew in that bringing him up to start last year would have not in any way been productive.
It’s a complicating situation. The stuff that blowhard said was not cool at all and baseballs dirty little secret. And because of that I am sure the team felt added pressure to call him up. The team put themselves in a bad situation when that fool shot his mouth off. But the real issue is the system is broken and needs to be fixed.
Agreed. If he is struggling now, there is no reason to assume that he was ready last year.
Mather also couldn’t even pronounce Kelenic’s name right. Dude had no insight into his own player development department (which, among many other things, should’ve been a giant red flag before February).
Don’t get your panties in a bunch – Kelenic is 21 years old and was in high school three years ago! Who would want their life’s accomplishments decided by what they did as 21 year olds? He looks overmatched by MLB pitching. My bet is that he continues to kill it in AAA and is back in Seattle in August, September callup at the latest.
Why not just keep him up? Let him figure it out on the MLB roster with MLB coaches with him. Mariners aren’t exactly battling for a playoff spot.
Cuz that’s been the MO in Seattle forever. Look at Zunino, Ackley, Franklin, and any other prospect Seattle rushed to the MLB and let them suffer there as they “learned on the job”. They kinda sent Zunino down but not long enough.
Taylor trammel just got sent down and tore the cover off, gained some confidence and looks completely different now. Everyone needs to calm down. It’s 100 ABs.
Anyone remember Bucky Jacobson? A small sample size can look good, bad or indifferent and usually isn’t reflective of the actual talent.
5 GB of West and 4 GB of Wild Card isn’t out of it, but truthfully he went from really bad luck to really bad approach. They did the same with Trammell when his swing broke down earlier this year, too. Two guys who basically skipped over Triple-A (save for Kelenic’s 6 games) because of the mess last year.
The Mariners have a long track record of rushing position prospects to the majors and “letting them learn” at the major league level: Mike Zunino, Dustin Ackley, Brad Miller, Nick Franklin, Jesus Montero, etc. All of them struggled mightily in the bigs and none of them ever reached their supposed potential. Zunino is the most extreme example of this; my father and I actually had a conversation with Edgar Martinez about this, and he said the Mariners basically ruined him by not sending him back down for about 2 years to learn how to hit. Sending Kelenic down now is absolutely the right move because this guy is ostensibly their franchise player moving forward. He was definitely struggling and you could see his frustration with every at bat. The M’s aren’t going to make the playoffs this year, but there’s no need to build up Kelenic’s service time clock now. He needs to get back into his comfort zone; remember that he didn’t play a competitive inning last season and only had about a week of games at AAA this season (his first at that level) before they called him up. It’s obvious he still needs more time to “marinate” at AAA before settling into an everyday role in the majors. He’s not over-hyped; he’s just not ready.
Disagree. Edgar came up twice and did fine. I believe he was 27 in his first half season. His first full season he hit over .300.
You could see his swing was there for Calgary. We watched all of the Calgary games when they came to Tacoma.
Zunino was a college pick that had played a lot of summer/fall league ball. He was ready and still has trouble with the curve.
Ackerly was another college grad that simply could not hit with a wooden bat and was overrated.
Miller and Franklin brought back similar players in prospects that were not progressing trades.
The problem hasn’t been rushing players for Seattle, it has been in having the worst scouting and front offices in MLB.
I think Seattle should trade Kellenic to Boston. They’ve seen enough of him out there ;-). Seattle can have Franchy Cordero & Michael Chavis
Kelenic is 21. Its hard to write him off just yet
Kelenic’s underlying numbers weren’t that terrible. A few weeks in AAA should help bring his confidence back up for his 2nd cup of coffee after the All Star break.
The list of guys who struggled their first 100 trips to the plate is a lot longer than the list of guys who raked at the MLB level from day one and never looked back.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in a couple of years we are debating whether Kelenic or Marsh is the best young OF in the West.
Probably also worth mentioning Kelenic had all of six games at Triple-A, basically had time for a hot streak and not much else. He and Taylor Trammell were in the same boat, and Taylor seemed to benefit from being sent down and facing lesser competition for a month to find himself.
Went from High School to MLB in 3 years, WITHOUT the benefit of an entire minor league season. The biggest adjustment these guys have to make (besides all the adjustment anyone makes from 18-21) is when baseball isn’t just a game anymore, it’s a job. A day-in, day-out job; with all the issues having a job brings. AND a few more when you’re a bonus baby (so everyone you work with naturally hates you), AND fans look at you as the savior of a franchise that’s had it’s problems.
I always thought he was a bit over-rated, but that’s only because the expectations were so inflated (some on purpose). My guess? He turns into a pretty good player, makes 3-5 All Star Games, has a solid if not quite HOF career. Kind of a Nick Markakis type.
And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.
Mets fan hoping to see Kelenic turn it around and have a very successful career. However, I certainly hope he learns a little humility here after running his mouth about being held back. Clearly was not yet ready for the big show. He is very young still and has plenty of time to fix it.
Well, so much (so far), about all talk of how horrible the original deal was for the Mets.
Dunn has been an up and down 5th starter with very average peripherals. Kelenic has shown an arrogance, demanding the Mariners promote him, and then flopping worse than nearly every much-ballyhooed prospect in recent memory.
Meanwhile, Cano has forfeited his current salary, costing the team nothing and Diaz has pretty much been everything the Mets could have hoped for the past 120 games.
Cano counts against the currents Mets payroll. Kelenic and Dunn are still outstanding prospects (have you bothered to watch Dunn pitch?). This remains a shakey deal for the Mets, who weren’t ready to contend then and really aren’t ready now.
It’s not even a shaky deal for the Mets. This deal will never be in the Mets favor. It was simply a bad deal then and still is now.
When BVW was Cano’s agent, there wasn’t a team that would take his 3,000-hit-chasing client off the Mariners’ hands. So what does he do? He becomes a GM and trades for the player no one wanted. Mets, Mets, Mets…
lmao, even as a Mets fan, I completely forgot Robinson Cano existed.
The hottest (read: most reasonable) take of all: This might just be growing pains and he’ll figure it out, or maybe he doesn’t and is a bust, or maybe he figures some stuff out and not others and he becomes a decent-not-great player. Better prospects than him have failed, complete non-prospects have become awesome. The track record of guys who strike out 120 times in A-ball is pretty varied.
Guys who are saying he’s toast are overreacting, but so are the guys who are suggesting that hitting under .100 for a month is nothing to worry about. That’s a pretty awful start to a career, historically, any way you slice it.
I don’t remember the stats from Trout’s initial callup, but they were not good. He rebounded just fine. Everyone needs to take a breath.
The ball-doctoring going on at the MLB level can’t be easy on hitting prospects. If MLB can fix this very real problem, we might get a better read on some of these young players.
Not too long ago, folks lost their mind because of former gm’s (gm?) comment about keeping him in the minors. All the experts here proclaimed “he is ready!” and demanded he be brought up. Ya know, maybe the folks in mlb–who actually get paid to analyze players and situations–know more than we do?
I hope he rebounds, but this is a lesson for many of us.
Fans always comment on prospects they’ve never seen play. Following farm system developments can be interesting. But as MLB fans, we should probably restrict our analysis to the guys on the 26-man roster. Even then, the analysis can be dumbfounding. Many fans want to exile any slumping player to the bench. If teams listened to fans, there would be no players left to play in the games. When it comes to assessing baseball talent, fans are pretty good at drinking beer.
It wasn’t the comment of keeping him in the minors that drove folks nuts. It was the idiotic comment that yes, they were manipulating his time of service and thus opening themselves up to a labor lawsuit and losing him in possible grievances early.
I’ve seen comments about Kelenic being a bust or not being ready but for me the issue is his demeanor.
He’s got something to say everytime he makes an 9ut, especially strikeouts.
He comes across as immature and looks like he’s never had to deal with adversity.
And its on that note that leads me to opine that everything has come easy too him and is a case study in why veterans are vital to teams, bringing stability and professionalism to the clubhouse/lockerroom.
Let me guess, you are a Mets fan, right?
LOL!
When they initially discussed promoting him, me and a number of posters said that 21 year old kids were rarely ready for the pros. It had nothing to do with Kelenic and everything to do with his age.and a lack of ABs in AA and AAA.
Inevitably, several people chimed in ‘Soto made it when he was 21’.
So, to repeat, a sample size of 1 is meaningless. And hitting major pitching is really difficult.
It’s so funny to read the whiny comments from Mets fans about how Kelenic is arrogant, or has a bad demeanor. First of all, aren’t New Yorkers supposed to be tough instead of being Mama’s boys? When did soy milk become the official drink in Queens? It’s pathetic. They root against this kid because their team is historically hot trash. The GM at the time made a dumb trade and now sensitive Mets fans are all up in their feelings about Kelenic and Dunn. Robbie Cano sucks, Diaz was bad his first year as a Met, get over it.
About whom do you speak? I’ve never heard anyone call him arrogant. Most the Met fans I know hated the trade and we’re all rooting for him to succeed.