The Cleveland Guardians have been desperate for bullpen depth this offseason, but they also just lost one of their relievers from the 2025 season to a National League foe.
On Friday afternoon, the team announced that the St. Louis Cardinals had claimed RHP Zak Kent after he was placed on waivers by the Guardians.
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Kent, 27, was originally selected by the Texas Rangers in the 2019 MLB Draft, but was traded to Cleveland for cash considerations ahead of the 2024 season. He finally made his big-league debut on April 23 of the 2025 season in a relief appearance against the New York Mets.
Kent appeared in 12 games for the Guardians in 2025 and threw a total of 17.2 innings. In those appearances, he had a 4.58 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. In 34 Triple-A outings, Kent had a 2.84 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP, including two saves.
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The right-hander’s biggest strength when pitching in his big-league outings was being able to limit hard contact. He only had a hard-hit rate of 29.4 percent and an average exit velocity of 87.2 mph. Because of this, Kent had an xERA of 3.33, per Baseball Savant.
Maybe the Cardinals see something in him they believe can help the 27-year-old become a more productive pitcher.
Despite the largely underwhelming total numbers, Kent did have a few nice outings where he was able to provide some depth for Cleveland’s bullpen. That said, the Guardians can still find an internal replacement for the right-hander, even though the organization has been searching for more bullpen depth this offseason.
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Apr 23, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Zak Kent (61) throws a pitch during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Especially after signing Connor Brogdon earlier this week, Cleveland
Probably the most interesting part of this transaction is that Kent was on waivers to begin with. Now, with the Cardinals picking him up, Cleveland’s 40-man roster is at 38.
Could this be a sign that more moves are to come for the Guardians with MLB’s Winter Meetings starting next week? We’ll have to wait and see if there’s a bigger move coming.