Just a few days after the Yankees added former Mets farmhand Michael Fulmer, the club took a no-risk flier on Jarred Kelenic.
On Saturday, the Yankees signed the former Mets (and Mariners) top prospect to a minor league deal, and the outfielder will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Kelenic has served as a cautionary tale for how difficult the transition is from the minors to the majors, a rising-star prospect who has had repeated chances in MLB and has not found much success.
Locally he is best known for the December 2018 trade in which the Mets — who selected him sixth overall in that year’s draft — sent him to Seattle in the package that brought back Edwin Díaz and Robinson Canó.
As Kelenic shot through the Mariners’ system, it seemed as if the swap would haunt the Mets for years.
And yet, several failed major league stints and teams later, Kelenic has a lifetime .211 average and .655 OPS in 443 games with the Mariners, Braves, White Sox and Rangers.
Now 27, Kelenic again did not hit with the major-league White Sox or Rangers this season but slashed a combined .310/.408/.584 in 63 games in Triple-A.
The Rangers gave up on the outfielder Sunday, when he was designated for assignment and soon after became a free agent.
A lefty hitter who can play the corner-outfield spots, Kelenic projects as depth for the Yankees, who have lefties Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Spencer Jones in the majors and Duke Ellis, Yanquiel Fernández and switch-hitting Jasson Domínguez in the minors.
