Mariners prospect Jarred Kelenic: Team is punishing me for refusing to sign contract extension

Seattle Mariners outfielder Jarred Kelenic is one of the top five prospects in baseball, yet he's supposedly being punished by the franchise. 

Kelenic told Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports that he is a victim of service-time manipulation and is being punished by the Mariners for not signing a contract extension 14 months ago. 

The 21-year-old said he was offered a guaranteed contract, but says that declining the offer has kept him off Seattle's MLB roster. 

"It was communicated to Jarred that had he signed that contract, he would have debuted last year," Kelenic's agent Brodie Scoffieldsaid. "It was made crystal clear to Jarred — then and now — that his decision not to call him up is based on service time.

"There's no question that if he signed that contract, he would have been in the big leagues."

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto denied that Kelenic would be kept in the minors for anything but development, Nightengale adds. He didn't comment on Kelenic's claims that he would be in MLB if he signed the contract offer. 

On Sunday, Mariners CEO Kevin Mather, who resigned Monday, informed a local rotary club that Kelenic would be kept in the minors to open the season, delaying his free agency for the second consecutive year.

He told the club that they planned to manipulate Kelenic's service time, which violates the CBA. Now the MLB Players Association is investigating the incident and is considering filing a grievance against the Mariners.