TRADE: Braves Acquire Former Mariners Phenom in 5-Player Deal

MLB News

PROFIL BOLA - The first big trade of the Winter Meetings actually came about late night Sunday, before the official festivities began, as the Atlanta Braves went out and acquired a one-time Top 3 prospect in all of baseball in Jarred Kelenic from the Seattle Mariners.

The full trade sees Seattle trading Kelenic, first baseman Evan White and LHP Marco Gonzales to Atlanta for minor league RHPs Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips. For Seattle it appears to be a salary dump.

Kelenic is the marquee name here, and the 24-year-old will be inserted into left field in Atlanta, and hopefully allowed to play his way into his elite prospect status. It was 2021 when he came into the season with such high hopes. He struggled mightily his first two years, but started to show flashes early in 2023 in Seattle, getting off to a roaring start, before slowing down and then missing a lot of time due to injury.

Marco Gonzalez adds a southpaw to the back end of the Braves' rotation, while Even White is the real salary dump part of this trade, as he's owed another $19 million over the next two years, but hasn't played in the majors since 2021, and owns a .165/.235/.308 slash line in the bigs.

Neither of the players the Mariners got back are top prospects, though Kowar was a first-round pick by the Kansas City Royals back in 2018.***