The New York Yankees signed Jarred Kelenic to a minor-league deal during their series against the Boston Red Sox and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The move gives the six-year veteran another chance to reset after he elected free agency earlier this week.
Kelenic will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where the Yankees can see whether his bat can translate into help later on. He began the 2026 season with the Chicago White Sox, then spent time with Texas before being outrighted to Triple-A Round Rock by the Texas Rangers and choosing free agency.
For now, the numbers say why he was available. Kelenic hit.219/.313/.288 with one home run and six RBI in 36 games between Chicago and Texas this year, even though he logged innings at all three outfield positions in the majors. At Triple-A, though, he looked more like the player scouts once projected, batting.310/.408/.584 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI.
That gap has followed him since the start. The New York Mets took Kelenic in the first round with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Waukesha West High School in Wisconsin, and he was once viewed as one of the best prospects in the game. He never fully lived up to that label in the majors, even as he bounced from Seattle to Atlanta and then into Chicago and Texas.
His major-league track record shows the problem. Kelenic debuted with Seattle in 2021, hit.181/.265/.350 in 93 games as a rookie, followed that with a.141/.221/.313 line in 54 games in 2022 and then improved to.253/.327/.419 over 105 games in 2023. The Seattle Mariners later traded him, Marco Gonzales and Evan White to the Atlanta Braves for Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips after that season, and he played 131 games for the Braves in 2024 before appearing in 24 more last year.
The Yankees did not say what role they have in mind beyond the report to Triple-A, but the path is straightforward. If Kelenic hits in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he gives them a ready extra outfielder; if he does not, this will be another stop in a career that has kept moving without finding a permanent home.
