Rangers re-acquire former ninth-round draft pick via waiver claim from Cardinals

Former draft pick Zak Kent returns to the Texas Rangers after the organization claimed him off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday afternoon.

In 12 games at the big league level in 2025, Kent compiled a 1-0 record with a 4.58 ERA, 16 strikeouts, eight walks and a 1.42 WHIP in 17.2 innings of work. He even recorded his first big league win in the Guardians' 9-8 win over Texas on September 28.

He will be on a long-list of bullpen options for Texas as they head into spring training needing to re-build their bullpen after another offseason of free agent departures.

Kent returns to Texas after a season away and wild offseason

The 27-year-old right-hander, Kent was a ninth round pick out of Virginia in the 2019 MLB Draft and spent around four years in the Rangers' organization before getting traded to the Cleveland Guardians.

Earlier in the offseason he was released by the Guardians and began a new journey with St. Louis when he claimed off waivers on December 5. His Cardinals career ended as quickly as it started, getting released on Tuesday to make room on Cleveland's 40-man roster for newly acquired Justin Bruihl.

In his first season (2019) of professional baseball, Kent posted a 5.12 ERA in 19.1 innings in the rookie league and Low-A. He didn't pitch in 2020 because the minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He started the 2021 season in High-A, where he managed a 2.83 ERA in 60.1 innings before being promoted to Double-A Frisco, where the righty struggled with a 5.34 ERA in 28.2 innings to end the season.

With Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate in 2025, Kent struck out over 32 percent of his batters, walked just 13 percent of batters faced and recorded a ground-ball rate of 54 percent. Texas is banking on getting the player that was once ranked among the team's top 30 prospects and will add a good level of depth to their bullpen.