Ex-M’s OF Jarred Kelenic signs minors deal with AL West rival

Former Seattle Mariners outfielder and one-time top prospect Jarred Kelenic signed a minor league deal with the American League West rival Texas Rangers on Monday, according to Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.

Kelenic, 26, reportedly has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.

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Kelenic began the season on a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox, splitting the first two months between the big league club and Triple-A Charlotte. He hit .226 with one home run, two doubles and a .626 OPS in 19 games at the MLB level for Chicago.

Kelenic elected free agency this past Saturday after the White Sox removed him from their 40-man roster and outrighted him to Triple-A Charlotte.

Prior to his stint in Chicago, Kelenic spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons in the Atlanta Braves’ organization. He hit .231 with 15 homers and a .679 OPS in 131 games with Atlanta in 2024, but spent most of the 2025 season with Triple-A Gwinnett. In 2025, hit just .167 with two homers in 24 games with the Braves before he was outrighted off their 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Once considered a cornerstone of the Mariners’ future, the lefty-hitting Kelenic entered the 2021 season as a top-five overall prospect in baseball. The M’s had acquired Kelenic as part of a blockbuster December 2018 trade that sent All-Stars Edwin Díaz and Robinson Canó to the New York Mets.

But Kelenic never lived up to lofty expectations in Seattle, slashing .204/.283/.373 for a .656 OPS with 32 home runs over 252 games from 2021-23. He showed some promise in 2023 while batting .253 with 11 homers and a .746 OPS in 105 games, but his season was derailed due to a fractured his foot suffered while kicking a water cooler in frustration.

In December 2023, the Mariners traded Kelenic, pitcher Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White to Atlanta for pitchers Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips.

Kelenic, a former No. 6 overall draft pick by the Mets out of high school, is now headed to Texas to play for his fifth MLB organization.

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