Mariners prospect Jarred Kelenic said it is "beyond frustrating" to remain in the minor leagues despite being ready to play for the Mariners.
Jarred Kelenic, a top prospect for the Mariners, said he believes the organization is manipulating his service time and punishing him for refusing to sign a previous contract proposal.
Kelenic, the No. 4 prospect in baseball, per MLB.com, said it is "beyond frustrating" to remain in the minor leagues despite being ready to play for the Mariners in 2020 and 2021.
"Not to be given that opportunity was so beyond frustrating," Kelenic told USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "I feel that guys should be rewarded for their play, and have the best guys on the field, especially when you talk about a team that hasn't gone to the playoffs in 20 years, and your best prospects are just sitting there watching."
Kelenic's frustration comes on the heels of a video released on Sunday featuring comments from former Seattle president and CEO Kevin Mather. In the video, Mather said Kelenic was being kept in the minors in order to delay his free agency. Mather also said the decision to avoid promoting Kelenic came after he and the team failed to agree to a contract extension before the 2020 season.
"It was communicated to Jarred that had he signed that contract, he would have debuted last year," Kelenic's agent Brodie Scoffield told Nightengale. "It was made crystal clear to Jarred—then and now—that his decision not to call him up is based on service time.
“There's no question that if he signed that contract, he would have been in the big leagues."
Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto denied that Kelenic's extended minor-league stint was due to service-time manipulation. Dipoto claimed that the decision to keep Kelenic in the minors was made in order to help his development.
"I'm not sure how you construe a service-time manipulation with a 21-year old player who has played 21 games above A-ball," Dipoto told USA Today. "That would be an unprecedented run to the big leagues that hasn't happened in three decades.
"While Jarred is a wildly talented player, we do want to make sure that he has checked off the boxes in development because it's incumbent on us, not just for the good of the Mariners, but for the benefit of Jarred Kelenic to make sure he has been fully developed."
Mather resigned from his role with the Mariners on Monday. In addition to the comments about Kelenic, Mather mocked the English-speaking skills of former pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma and prospect outfielder Julio Rodríguez. Mather also said long-time Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager is "overpaid", and he insulted the neighborhood surrounding T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
Kelenic and Rodriguez are two of the top-five prospects in baseball, per MLB.com. It is unclear when either player will make their MLB debut.