Once viewed as a top prospect in all of baseball, outfielder Jarred Kelenic signs with Chicago White Sox as a non-roster invite with upside, but an uphill battle to make the 2026 roster.
The Chicago White Sox added another corner outfielder to the mix on Wednesday for the 2026 season, bringing in Jarred Kelenic as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Kelenic is a name that might sound familiar to die-hard Sox fans—especially those who follow the MLB Draft closely. He’s the prospect many once feared would be “the one that got away.”
Hailing from Waukesha West High School in Wisconsin, Kelenic was selected sixth overall by the New York Mets in the 2018 MLB Draft, just two picks after the White Sox took Oregon State shortstop Nick Madrigal at No. 4.
A Midwest prep outfielder with a left-handed swing, power to all fields, and an incredibly high ceiling? That’s exactly the type of player White Sox fans had been begging the organization to target at the time.
And early returns in the minor leagues only fueled that anxiety. It didn’t take long for it to look like the Sox may have made a costly mistake passing on him.
After just 56 minor-league games in the Mets organization, Kelenic was traded to the Seattle Mariners in the blockbuster deal that sent Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz to Queens.
In his first full minor-league season, Kelenic reached Double-A as a 19-year-old, hitting .291 with 31 doubles, 23 home runs, 20 stolen bases, and a .904 OPS.
Entering 2020, he was ranked the No. 11 prospect in all of baseball. By 2021, he had climbed to No. 4.
He had future superstar written all over him.
Since then, however, Kelenic’s career has been a mix of flashes and frustration. He’s had dominant stretches in Triple-A but has struggled to consistently translate that production to the major-league level.
His best season came in 2023 with Seattle. At 23 years old, he hit 11 home runs, stole 13 bases, and posted a .746 OPS across more than 100 games.
Following that season, Kelenic was dealt to the Atlanta Braves. Over the past two years, he recorded a .660 OPS across 155 games—numbers that largely mirror his career line.
Now 26, Kelenic lands in Chicago, where he’ll battle for a roster spot this spring.
Admittedly, the odds are stacked against him. The White Sox have built significant outfield depth, including savvy defensive veteran Derek Hill and former Yankees top prospect Everson Pereira.
Both Hill and Pereira are already on the 40-man roster, and neither has minor-league options remaining—an automatic advantage when it comes to final cuts.
Still, I don’t hate the White Sox taking a swing on Kelenic.
Right field remains unsettled. While Sox fans are hopeful the team adds a more established veteran to replace Mike Tauchman in 2026, it’s entirely possible for a non-roster invitee to win the job and carve out regular at-bats.
Kelenic handles right-handed pitching fairly well, shows legitimate power when he’s locked in, runs the bases well, and owns a strong arm that plays in a corner outfield spot—even if he profiles as an average defender overall.
Expectations are low—and for good reason. But on a minor-league deal as a non-roster invite, why not take a flyer on upside?