Seattle Mariners: M’s and Jarred Kelenic – Storm clouds brewing
Flashback 2021
A quick recap of that terrible day. In an online discussion with members of a local Rotary Club, Mather made some disparaging comments about current players and employees. If that wasn’t enough for him to lose his job, he openly admitted the Mariners were manipulating the service time agreement for their young players. Jarred Kelenic and starting pitcher Logan Gilbert wouldn’t join the team for several weeks. Following these comments, and a less than sincere apology, Mather resigned.
While many players have argued this is the case for their delay, there has never been any concrete proof. That is until Mather opened his mouth on a recorded video for posterity. He said the unsaid but highly suspected. MLB teams were weaponizing service time to keep control of their young stars longer.
To counter this type of statement, Seattle Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto went on record. He said it’s hard to move a player up to the big leagues, especially when the player only has 21 games of experience above High-A ball. Additionally, there were no minor league games during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The team believed Kelenic needed more at-bats in the minors.
Mather revealed one other relevant item. In 2020, the M’s offered Kelenic a six-year contract, similar to Evan White. Had Kelenic signed, service time was then a non-issue. His Mariners debut could have come in 2020.
Over the following days, Kelenic made his stance on his service time very clear. He was ready to help the Mariners compete right away, and that the Mariners were holding him back. Even Kelenic’s agent supported his client by stating, “There’s no question that if he signed that contract, he would have been in the big leagues.” Their point that Kelenic is being punished by not agreeing to the team’s offer. They were laying the foundation for their grievance case.
Then Kelenic injured his adductor muscle, ensuring he’d start the year in the minors, as it effectively ended his spring training.