Not two months into the season, it looks like trading your organization’s best prospect for a 36-year-old with a large contract might just be a bad idea.
As Robinson Cano exited Wednesday’s game with tightness in his left quad and has since been placed on the injured list, Jarred Kelenic — whom the Mets drafted sixth overall last season, then promptly shipped to Seattle as part of a package deal for Cano — bombed his eighth home run at Single-A West Virginia.
Cano has hit .241 with a .658 OPS this season in his return to New York, earning waves of criticism for his failure to run out ground balls. Meanwhile, one scout told The Post’s Mike Puma of Kelenic, a 19-year-old who holds a .305 average in the minors: “That kid is going to be a star.”
Of course, Kelenic wasn’t the only piece the Mets gave up in the trade, in which New York also got back Edwin Diaz. Gershon Bautista is on the IL and Jay Bruce’s production has tailed off in Seattle — he’s hitting just .192. Justin Dunn, the other prospect given up by Brodie Van Wagenen, has a 3.38 ERA in Double-A Arkansas, with 50 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings.
If Kelenic does turn into a star, though, all of that becomes supplementary to yet another suspect offseason maneuver by the Mets.