Seattle Mariners: Jarred Kelenic and the art of service time manipulation
Jarred Kelenic
In an interview on Saturday with MLB TVs Harold Reynolds and Greg Amsinger, Kelenic said emphatically and confidently that he would be helping out at the Big League level early this season. While that should get all Mariner’s fans excited, players don’t get to make those decisions; management does.
Dipoto hasn’t ruled out that Kelenic could join Seattle early in the season either. In fact, his implication of wanting a left-handed bat in the outfield would be the exact excuse for bringing Kelenic up on April 16th. Dipoto could be setting the stage with this kind of rhetoric. After all, the Seattle Mariners missed their opportunity to sign Kolton Wong and have stayed away from Reddick. Maybe those were intentional.
Logan Gilbert
Gilbert has come up through the Mariners system with Kelenic and is in the same situation. Though, with pitchers, that first 172 days is a bit different. It’s rare to hear about a club manipulating service time on starting pitchers. This is mostly because the gamble in the first 172 days is a bit more predictable. Gilbert will likely spend more time in the minors during his rookie season than Kelenic.
In addition, Gilbert turns 24 on May 5th. That’s important because it means that he is under Mariners’ control through his baseball prime and up through his age-30 season. He’s a good candidate to be on the opening day roster because of his age and ability.
If the make-up is there for Gilbert to compete at the big-league level, the M’s signing James Paxton might actually accelerate their need for Gilbert. Seattle is lefty-heavy in the rotation. A hard-throwing righty fits in nicely.