Mariners Jersey Choice: Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, or Julio Rodriguez

The Seattle Mariners have some incredibly talented players. What would you do if you could only pick one jersey?

It’s a question that is likely plaguing many fans of the youth coming up in the Seattle Mariners system. Right now, the Mariners have three great choices. Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, and Kyle Lewis. What would you do if you could only pick one?

Baseball jerseys can be a bit expensive, and, let’s be honest, it’s just harder to get away with wearing them in public when you are comparing it to a football jersey. At the same time, you still want to be able to support your team and rep a jersey of a player that you like.

There is more to it than that though. You don’t want to be stuck having a jersey of a player who barely played, or never even made it at all. My condolences to anyone out there who ended up with a Danny Hultzen jersey. Oof.

You wouldn’t want to get stuck with someone who is going to be traded either. That part can be a bit tougher, as even the top prospects in an organization can be dealt away. It wouldn’t be as bad if they ended up being good and having a lengthy career elsewhere, but you still want to make the right choice.

This leads us to our first choice in the breakdown. A big part of the worry can come from not wanting to spend the money on a jersey for a player that hasn’t even made it to the Major Leagues yet. So, let’s go to the guy who had a nice impact in his first full* season in the big leagues as a Seattle Mariner.

A Seattle Mariners Julio Rodriguez Jersey

Julio Rodriguez is probably the most exciting of the three prospects/young guys that we are discussing. Kyle Lewis has already broken through and is a bit older than the other two guys. Kelenic, who will be featured in the last slide, is about 18 months older than Rodriguez and one year closer to making the majors.

However, Julio Rodriguez could end up with the highest ceiling out of the three. He is about to turn 20 and could find himself up this season if Dipoto and the rest of the Seattle Mariners organization decide that they want to see him and Kelenic up at the same time to keep their paths aligned.

He’s only been to high A so far, so he has a bit to go before he gets to the bigs. The numbers though. Ohhhh buddy are they good. Between A ball and High A, Julio hit .326 over 328 at-bats, 12 homers, 26 doubles, and 70 RBI. There is some worry when you look at the strikeouts (76) and GIDP (10). Remember though… HE’S ONLY 19!

There is another part of this decision, and it comes from something that is only slightly related to baseball. It can be fun to have the jersey of a player that is flashy. A guy who makes proverbial noise, and can stand out not just from his play, but the manner in which he makes plays. Julio is not afraid of the spotlight and even has his own YouTube show with the Seattle Mariners.

This isn’t a bad thing, as long as the flash is done in the correct way. If Tim Anderson was quiet, would people notice him as much? No, they wouldn’t. Just don’t go down the Milton Bradley path and tear your ACL yelling at the first base umpire.

It’s close, but I still wouldn’t take Julio Rodriguez as my choice for a jersey. Instead, that honor goes to…

My Choice: A Seattle Mariners Jarred Kelenic Jersey

When it comes down to it, Jarred Kelenic is my choice… and the reasons for my decision include one that you might not be aware of, or agree with even.

There is a part of me that just doesn’t like New York. If you are near my age, or honestly, a sports fan outside of New York, you might feel the same way. I’m 32, so as I was learning about baseball, the Yankees were turning into a powerhouse. For some reason, the Mariners-Yankees matchups were an actual rivalry. Was it because of Seinfeld? That we almost traded for Mariano Rivera? Or, because we came back from down 0-2 and beat them in 95 with “The Double“? Who knows.

Oh, Edgar. How I love you… wait, not an Edgar fanboy piece? Another day then. Back to Kelenic.

I want a Kelenic jersey, not just because I think he is going to be the best of the three (which I do), but because you get to remember the trade for him every single time you throw on the jersey.

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Imagine. Winter Meetings 2018. We get rid of Diaz, which was a great idea because relievers not named Rivera or Hoffman are notoriously unpredictable. The Mariners also send away Cano. Diaz would give up a ton of homers. Cano meanwhile, would play decent but was recently suspended for the season due to another drug test, and actually saved the Seattle Mariners a few million dollars. Like Santa, it’s the trade that keeps on giving.

In return, we (yes, we) get five players in total. Jay Bruce, who we wanted years before, Anthony Swarzak, and the hard-throwing Gerson Bautista. Then we got Justin Dunn, who now seems to be a solid part of the Mariners rotation. The main piece of the trade though was Jarred Kelenic.

At the time, he was the 62nd ranked prospect. Now… he is ranked in the top ten (depending on where you look, he is between 5-15), and what seems to be one of the most wanted players in all of baseball.

Look what he did last year, and you can see why the hope is so high on Kelenic. Flying from A ball to High A, to Double-A, he put together quite the stat line. .291/.364/.540, with 23 homers, 20 steals, 31 doubles, and 80 runs in 500 PA.

If that doesn’t get you hyped… I don’t know what would. Maybe this video?

Jarred Kelenic is likely going to be up during the upcoming season. He is going to be a major part of the Mariner’s future (knock, knock) and should be there for quite a while. When it comes down to it, I think I would want a Jarred Kelenic jersey.

I want to hear if you agree or disagree. If you could choose just one of the three jerseys, would you go with a Kyle Lewis jersey, a Julio Rodriguez jersey, or a Jarred Kelenic jersey? Personally, I’m taking Kelenic and not thinking twice.