ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
NASHVILLE — The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Jarred Kelenic, left-hander Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White from the Seattle Mariners for right-handers Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips on Sunday, kicking off the winter meetings with a money-dump deal by the Mariners that netted the Braves the high-upside outfielder.
The trade, which represents the second purge of veterans by the Mariners after they dealt third baseman Eugenio Suarez to Arizona earlier in the winter, will save Seattle a significant amount of future guaranteed money. While the Mariners included an unknown amount of cash in the deal, White and Gonzales are owed $29 million.
The Braves, in the market for a left fielder and rotation help, were willing to take on the money for the 24-year-old Kelenic, who has shown flashes of greatness and will slot into a lineup that this year slugged .501, the highest mark in Major League Baseball history. Kelenic batted .253/.327/.419 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs in 105 games, missing a chunk of time after breaking his foot when he kicked a water cooler in frustration after a strikeout.
Kelenic was the last player remaining from the blockbuster 2018 trade that sent closer Edwin Diaz and second baseman Robinson Cano to the New York Mets. At one point a top-five prospect in baseball, Kelenic possesses massive power — he hit a 482-foot home run at Wrigley Field this year — but has struggled to make contact, striking out 132 times in 416 plate appearances in 2023. With just under two years of service time, Kelenic is not set to reach free agency until following the 2028 season.
Gonzales, 31, is coming off surgery to alleviate a nerve issue in his arm. A reliable innings-eater in prior seasons, he went 4-1 with a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings over 10 starts this year before the injury sidelined him and eventually led to the procedure. He will make $12 million in 2024 and has a $15 million option for 2025.
The Mariners signed White to a six-year, $24 million contract before his major league debut in 2020. White struggled in his rookie season while playing first base full time and lost the job to Ty France during 2021, hitting .165/.235/.308 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs over 84 games combined in his two major league seasons. Injuries have plagued him the past two seasons at Triple-A, and he is owed $15 million over the next two seasons, with a $2 million buyout in 2026 on the first of three options the Braves now hold.
Losing Gonzales, White and Suarez — who is making $11 million this season — takes the Mariners’ payroll into the $110 million range, well below their $137 million Opening Day payroll last season. Seattle, which won 88 games this year and finished a game shy of the postseason, could hit the trade market or free agent market to supplement an offense that also lost right fielder Teoscar Hernandez to free agency.
With their bounty of young, homegrown starting pitchers, the Mariners are an attractive trade partner for teams spooked by a free agent market in which back-end starting pitching costs at least $10 million a year.
“I want to thank Marco, JK and Evan for their contributions to the club,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “All three played key roles at different stages of our growth over the past several seasons. As we continue to work through this offseason with the goal of improving our team for 2024 and beyond, we believe the additions of Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips, as well as the roster and payroll flexibility created tonight, will move us closer to that goal.”
Phillips, 20, was taken by Atlanta in the second round of the 2022 draft after undergoing Tommy John surgery that April. He has yet to throw a pitch as a professional but is seen by scouts as a high-upside arm with a blazing fastball and good breaking ball.
Kowar, 27, was a first-round pick by Kansas City in 2018 and posted a 9.12 ERA in three seasons with the Royals, during which he struck out 75, walked 51 and allowed 15 home runs and an opponent slash line of .330/.424/.559 in 74 big league innings. He was traded to the Braves on Nov. 17 for right-hander Kyle Wright.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.