One would think Jarred Kelenic has played in the major leagues for a decade with the amount of action packed into his career.
It began when he was drafted by the New York Mets with the No. 6 overall pick in 2018. One of their top prospects, he lasted in the organization for six months before a trade to the Seattle Mariners (for Edwin Diaz and more), where he punctuated a disappointing and emotional tenure by breaking a bone in his foot when he kicked a Gatorade cooler after a strikeout.
Five years after the first trade, the outfielder was dealt Dec. 3 to the Atlanta Braves, a move that came after some controversial comments from Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto about his want to win. Kelenic opened up on “Foul Territory” about his personal growth and how those comments — “prime Babe Ruth” couldn’t fix the team (January 2023) and Dipoto tries to win “54% of the time” (October 2023) — have caused unneeded distractions in the clubhouse.
“The comments like the ‘54% thing,’ even the ‘Prime Babe Ruth’ thing — the whole goal is to eliminate all of the distractions and the B.S. that comes with playing in the big leagues,” Kelenic said Jan. 17. “If you can simplify it for the players as much as you possibly can, I think you’re going to get the most of out of your guys. When you have stuff like (those comments), you’re bringing unwanted, unneeded attention to the team, and it kind of sets a form of pressure, if you want to call it that.”
The Mariners missed the playoffs by one game after getting off to a rough start (12-16). But Dipoto told reporters in October that he was doing the fans a “favor” by preaching patience to win a World Series, an excuse for why the team didn’t substantially add in 2023, one year after breaking a 20-year playoff drought. In the same interview, Dipoto also said that he has the “mindset” to win “54 percent of the time” and see what happens. (He apologized a day later and said he was…
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