The Seattle Mariners Shockingly Shipped Jared Kelenic Off To Atlanta In A Complete Salary Dump That Has To Mean A Bigger Move Is Coming

This is the first domino to fall this week, but it will definitely not be the last. The winter meetings are right around the corner, and free agency is about to heat up. I’m not surprised at all to see the Atlanta Braves or Seattle Mariners making trades, but I am a little bit surprised at the players who were involved. 

I like this move for Atlanta. Offensively, as the regular season is concerned, it seems like anyone who steps foot at Truist Field will start mashing. The issue has never been talent with Jared Kelenic. I think he’s had some issues believing in himself, and last year, his solid season got derailed after he broke his foot kicking a water cooler. Being in a lineup with the likes of Ronald Acuna And Matt Olson should do wonders for the guy. I liked Marco Gonzalez for a while. If he can revert back to where he was before his injury-riddled season last year, then he’ll be a solid fourth or fifth starter for an Atlanta team that is looking to add depth to their rotation. 

I am very much baffled by what the Mariners are attempting to do here. If one of these guys was getting paid a lot of money, I could see it as a salary dump in the hopes that they could make a bigger splash in free agency. There’s no fucking way that this team should be attempting some sort of rebuild. They were two games away from the playoffs in a division that featured both participants in the ALCS last year. They have really solid pitching staff. I’ve always felt like they could be in play for Shohei Ohtani. But you could’ve made a serious run at Ohtani while also holding onto Kelenic and Gonzalez. Perhaps this makes Seattle a potential player for Juan Soto. If it does, I’ll definitely eat crow. That would be a gamechanger.

The Braves aren’t going anywhere. That’s been known for a long time, but this is a huge offseason for the Seattle Mariners. They broke the streak and made the playoffs in 2022. They had a solid team last year but came up short of expectations. If they can’t put together a solid team this year, that front office should rightfully be questioned. Their championship window should be opening, but it kind of seems like they’re afraid to open it. Don’t you dare waste Julio Rodriguez.