Mariners’ McKay: Kelenic, Rodriguez exceeding expectations so far
Mar 5, 2020, 1:05 PM | Updated: 1:22 pm
Mariners prospect Jarred Kelenic has been very impressive since being traded to Seattle. (Getty)
(Getty)
Yes, it’s unlikely that the Mariners will be competing for much in 2020, but the future is bright in Seattle and there is plenty of reason to be excited.
Mariners notebook: Seattle to be more aggressive on the bases in 2020
After the 2018 season, Seattle had what was considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst, farm systems in all of baseball. Now? The organization is lush with young talent who should be making an impact at the MLB level in the not too distant future.
The 2020 roster will feature high-end prospects like Evan White, Kyle Lewis, Shed Long, Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, and others like Logan Gilbert could be not too far behind, but what’s really turning heads in the organization is the two young guns who will be patrolling the outfield at T-Mobile Park for years to come: Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez.
Regarded as top-20 prospects by seemingly every ranking out there, the duo could be the cornerstones of sustained success that Mariners fans have yearned for for so long.
Andy McKay, the Mariners director of player management, joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant and talked about the quick and remarkable turnaround of the farm system, his two top prospects, what warrants a call up and more.
Worst to nearly first
When the Mariners failed again to reach the postseason in 2018, their farm system was weak and their player group at the MLB level was one of the oldest and most expensive in baseball. That’s when the organization decided to embrace a rebuild, something the team hasn’t gone all-in on this century, and the results have been resoundingly positive.
Trades involving established players like Robinson Cano, James Paxton, Edwin Diaz, Mike Zunino and Jean Segura brought back young talent like Kelenic, Dunn, Sheffield, J.P. Crawford and Jake Fraley.
Barely a year after having the worst farm system in baseball, the Mariners’ system is usually ranked in the top-10, close to the top-five.
“We’re excited about it and, as always … we’re a pretty optimistic group, even when others may not be so optimistic, we’ve been able to maintain that over these four or five years,” McKay said. “What you’re seeing right now is the culmination of a lot of things where we’ve drafted well, we’ve signed some really good international players, we’ve obviously made some big trades.”
When you trade successful players like Cano, you have to make sure the value you’re getting is worth it. McKay certainly thinks that’s the case.
“So far we feel like we have done that, and we feel like we have a really good process in place in terms of developing our players,” he said.
Jarred Kelenic
Kelenic was the centerpiece of the Cano and Diaz trade with the New York Mets. The outfielder was the No. 6 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft out of high school and he spent his first full year as a pro in the Mariners organization in 2019.
To say he’s succeeded would be an understatement.
Kelenic, 20, is MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 overall prospect and after starting the season in Single-A, the lefty earned promotions to High-A and Double-A and hit over 20 home runs and stole 20 bases while playing good defense in center field and slashing .291/.364/.540 between the three leagues.
“Jarred brought a lot to the table when he walked in and he has not disappointed. In fact, he’s probably surpassed all of our expectations.,” McKay said. “He gets a lot of credit for that, he gets a lot of the coverage throughout the industry and that’s well deserved.”
Kelenic’s exceptional 2019 also brought further positive reviews on the Mariners’ system as a whole because so much attention was on him.
“I think (his success) impacts (how we’re viewed) in a positive way because it just continues to bring attention and light to what’s going on here,” McKay said. “And it may start with Jarred, but it quickly moves to many other players because you can’t just come and watch Jarred and not notice what’s around him as well.”
Julio Rodriguez
Rodriguez, 19, turned heads not only because of his massive frame (roughly 6’4 and over 220 pounds), but because when he was on the field, he was destroying the baseball.
He, like Kelenic, started in Single-A, but an injury from a hit by pitch slowed his start. When he recovered, he quickly established himself as a force, and earned a promotion to High-A. When all was said and done, Rodriguez slashed .326/.390/.540 with 12 home runs and 69 RBIs. Not bad for a then-18 year old who was playing in the United States for the first time.
Known for his big personality, Rodriguez, MLB Pipeline’s No. 18 prospect, is easily one of the favorites in the organization. He’s also an extremely hard worker who wants to be a superstar.
“When you have a student like Julio, it makes it easier on you because you have a wonderful person that you just enjoy being around, you have a relationship where you can speak very frankly and tell him the truth,” McKay said, “and he wants the truth.”
Rodriguez wants to go down as one of the best to ever play. When McKay asked him recently who he wanted to be compared to 20 years from now, he said half-Alex Rodriguez, half-Adrian Beltre.
“I think we would all take that as would he, but I thought those were really good comparisons because I see parts of both those players in his game,” McKay said. “I think it’s always easier when you have a kind of mentor, role model or hero you’re trying to model yourself off of. It can be really helpful.”
How are call ups decided?
While some young guys will be on the big league roster from the start, players like Kelenic will be doing everything they can to earn a promotion to the club during the season.
Kelenic earned two promotions alone in 2019, so a similar path (if he starts in Double-A where he ended last year) would get him to the Mariners. But what causes a player to get called up anywhere in the organization?
“It’s a really big collaboration between a lot of people, and really all it takes is somebody in the conversation to raise their hand and say ‘hey, we want to talk about player X,'” McKay said.
That happened with Kelenic last year when he was in Single-A West Virginia for the start of the season.
“Dave Berg, our manager at West Virgina, was the first person who picked up the phone and said ‘I don’t think he’s in the right league and I don’t think he’s going to develop the way he should if he continues to stay in this league,'” McKay recalled. “That began a much broader conversation between our coordinating group in player development and (general manager) Jerry Dipoto, between our data analysts and over time, we made the decision to move him.”
So who has the final say? It varies.
“Sometimes the decision comes from somebody in Seattle, sometimes it comes straight from Jerry, sometimes it’s me, but none of us make the decision (without) collaborating and having a very thorough conversation about what’s best for the player and there’s really not a formula,” McKay said. “Really, what you’re trying to do is put the player where he has the best ability to continue to get better.”
You can listen to McKay’s full interview with Danny and Gallant in the player below.
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