Yankees Sign Jarred Kelenic To Minors Contract

The Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (the Yankees’ top affiliate) announced that outfielder Jarred Kelenic has signed a contract with the club.  Kelenic became a free agent earlier this week after clearing waivers and rejecting an outright assignment to the Rangers’ Triple-A club.

The Yankees become the latest team to take a look at Kelenic, who now indirectly returns to New York after the Mets took him with the sixth overall pick of the 2018 draft.  Six months after that selection, Kelenic was sent to the Mariners as part of the blockbuster deal that brought Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to Queens, but Kelenic never blossomed as expected in Seattle.  Apart from a solid 2023 campaign, Kelenic has struggled to hit MLB pitching, posting a .211/.283/.371 slash line across 1571 career plate appearances for the Mariners, Braves, White Sox, and Rangers.

In 2026, Kelenic has hit .219/.313/.288 in 83 PA with Chicago and Texas, and the White Sox designated Kelenic for assignment in late May.  He quickly elected free agency and signed with the Rangers on another minors deal, and this process repeated itself with three more DFAs and two subsequent re-signings with Texas on new contracts.  The third DFA finally led to a change of scenery, as Kelenic heads to SWB looking for another fresh start.

Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Spencer Jones have become New York’s regular outfield grouping, with Heliot Ramos in a fourth outfield role and Jasson Dominguez at Triple-A.  Aaron Judge‘s return from a rib fracture will further crowd the outfield picture, though Judge might get some usage at DH as the Yankees ease the superstar back into action.  In short, it might take another injury to create any real opportunity for Kelenic to crack the active roster, even after rosters expand on September 1.