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

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.