Mariners Give Up On Jarred Kelenic In 5 Player Deal With Braves

Mariners Give Up On Jarred Kelenic In 5 Player Deal With Braves

Every Mets fan shed a tear when they saw this trade go down. Full well knowing that this will somehow come back to bite them in the worst way possible. Jarred Kelenic is on the move again but this time he’s heading to Atlanta.

The Mariners and Braves have come to terms on a five-player trade. Kelenic heads to Atlanta along with Evan White and Marco Gonzales. Cole Phillips and Jackson Kowar will get sent to Seattle.

Joel Sherman of the NY Post was the first to gather all of the details of the trade.

The Mariners have traded Jarred Kelenic to the Braves as @Ken_Rosenthal 1st reported. @JeffPassan has whole trade: Kelenic, left-hander Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White to the Braves in exchange for right-handers Cole Phillips and Jackson Kowar

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 4, 2023

Jarred Kelenic Is The Mets Looming Nightmare

It’s not overly surprising that Seattle made this move. Kelenic was previously upset with management and was dangled as a piece to clear out a ton of payroll. Seattle will eat a disclosed amount of money in this trade but they were clearly motivated to reduce payroll. White and Gonzales are under bad contracts.

White, 27, is revered as a quality defender but can’t hit a lick. The first baseman hit just .165 last year and is under contract for $7 million this year. A contract the Braves will likely buyout when they can in 2026. Similarly, Gonzales is under contract this year while carrying a club option for next season at $12.25 million. He sported an ERA of 5.22 last year and has struggled with injuries for a vast portion of his career.

Could this be Seattle’s way of slashing payroll to bring in Blake Snell?

This trade really comes down to Atlanta taking a shot on Kelenic’s young talent. A player who finally started to turn the corner last year. Atlanta is also sending a real prospect in Cole Phillips to get this deal done.

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