Top prospect Jarred Kelenic believes the Seattle Mariners have been punishing him for not signing a club-friendly contract extension.

"It was communicated to Jarred that had he signed that contract, he would have debuted last year," said Brodie Scoffield, who represents Kelenic, told USA Today. "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."

Kelenic, 21, was a first-round pick of the New York Mets in 2018 out of high school. He was then traded to the Mariners in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz deal.

He played 117 games in 2019 between Class A, Class A-Advanced and Double-A, hitting .291/.364/.540 with 31 doubles, five triples, 23 homers, 68 RBI, 80 runs and 20 steals.