Mariners Prospects: Jarred Kelenic is the next Carlos Beltran

Ceiling Player comp for Seattle Mariners Jarred Kelenic: Carlos Beltran

Carlos Beltran? Do you mean that old slow guy who puttered around for nearly a decade that pretty much only had power? Yeah, that guy. The one who started his career with 11 straight seasons of double-digit steals.

Many people forget just how good Beltran was for the first decade of his career before making the adjustment to a power hitter for the latter half of his playing days. From 1999-2009, an 11 season stretch, Beltran averaged .283/.360/.497 with 25 homers, 26 steals, and 30 doubles a season. He won the Rookie of the Year all the way back in 1999 as he kicked off an incredible career in Kansas City.

If we can get the type of career that Beltran had, we are going to have an incredible career and an extremely fun player to watch in center field for years to come. It wasn’t just that Beltran could hit or run, it was that he could do both, all the while still playing good defense. He ended his career with nine All-Star game appearances, three Gold Gloves, and finished with 70.1 WAR. It’s at the edge of being worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Here’s the thing, though. With the dropping league-wide batting average we are seeing, if Kelenic can produce those types of numbers, which definitely seem possible, he is going to be worth even more.

A career like Beltran’s would be a lot of fun. The good defense played primarily in center field, the multi-faceted threat of power, speed, and average all paired with a guy who seems uber-competitive and plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. When it comes to player comps and a realistic ceiling, Jarred Kelenic is going to provide a lot of excitement in his career as a Seattle Mariner.