With Major League Baseball’s winter meetings underway in Nashville, the Mariners and Braves announced a five-player trade late Sunday night that sends three players to Atlanta and a pair of prospects to Seattle.
Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, infielder Evan White and left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales are going to Atlanta, with righties Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips headed to Seattle. The Braves are also receiving cash from the Mariners.
Kelenic, 24, finally showed promise in 2023, his third major league season. The sixth overall pick by the New York Mets in 2018, Kelenic hit .253 in 105 games last season, setting career highs in all three slash lines (.253/.327/.419), as well as RBIs (49), stolen bases (13), runs (44) and hits (94). His 11 home runs were three off his career high.
He missed almost two months in the middle of the season after breaking his foot kicking a water cooler. He is a career .204 hitter with 32 homers and 109 RBIs in 252 games.
Gonzales, 31, was 4-1 with a 5.22 ERA in 10 starts in 2023. Forearm surgery ended his season in August, and he hadn’t pitched since May.
For his career, Gonzales is 65-49 with a 4.14 ERA and three complete games over 163 appearances (155 starts).
White, 27, last played in the majors in 2021. Over two seasons with the Mariners, the first baseman had a .165 batting average with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in 84 games. He won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2020.
Kowar, 27, has played in parts of three seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He has gone 2-6 in 39 appearances (eight starts), sporting a 9.12 ERA. Last season, Kowar went 2-0 with a career-best 6.43 ERA in 23 appearances out of the bullpen.
The Braves selected Phillips, 20, in the second round (57th overall) of the 2022 draft. He underwent Tommy John surgery prior to that draft and has yet to pitch professionally.
–Field Level Media
