Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Zak Kent

Guardians Activate Slade Cecconi

By | at

TODAY: The Guardians have officially announced Cecconi’s activation. Right-hander Zak Kent was optioned to Columbus in the corresponding move.

MAY 16: The Guardians will activate Slade Cecconi from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow against Cincinnati, relays Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. It will be the right-hander’s team debut. He was acquired from the Diamondbacks in the offseason Josh Naylor trade.

Cecconi, 25, probably would have opened the season in Stephen Vogt’s rotation had he been healthy. He strained his left oblique during Spring Training. He has made a trio of rehab starts with Triple-A Columbus over the past couple weeks. Cecconi has allowed seven runs over 13 innings. He got through 5 2/3 frames and tallied 68 pitches over the weekend.

A Miami product, Cecconi was a supplemental first-round pick in 2020. His prospect stock has dimmed since then, though the Guardians still liked him enough to send their longtime first baseman to Arizona. Cecconi tossed 104 innings for the Snakes between 2023-24, allowing just over six earned runs per nine. His 18.7% strikeout rate is below-average, but he has shown excellent control. He owns a 4.73 ERA over parts of five minor league seasons.

Cleveland lost Ben Lively to the injured list with a flexor strain earlier this week. Cecconi will slot behind Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz and Logan Allen to round out the rotation for the time being.

Guardians Select Kolby Allard

By | at

The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Kolby Allard from Triple-A Columbus.  Left-hander Erik Sabrowski was moved to the 60-day injured list and right-hander Zak Kent was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding moves. As reported yesterday, Cleveland also called up Doug Nikhazy as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader with the Red Sox.

Allard signed a minor league deal with the Guards back in February, after the Phillies outrighted the southpaw off their roster following the 2024 season and Allard elected free agency.  It was essentially an early non-tender move for Philadelphia, as Allard was arbitration-eligible and projected to earn $1.1MM in 2025, though the Phils still opted against paying this modest sum.

The veteran didn’t make a sterling case for himself in posting a 5.00 ERA in 27 innings for the Phillies last year, with only a 19.7% strikeout rate but a solid 6.8% walk rate.  Allard’s 4.18 SIERA was notably better than his ERA, and it was the second-best SIERA Allard has posted during a seven-year MLB career that has seen the lefty post a 5.99 ERA across 272 innings with three different teams.  Allard hasn’t posted particularly good numbers as either a starter or as a reliever, but his ability to work in both capacities as a swingman has kept getting him opportunities at the big league level.

Yesterday’s rainout gave the Guardians an unexpected off-day, and it lines up a busy upcoming stretch of the schedule.  Cleveland will now play 13 games over the next 12 days, so having a versatile innings-eater like Allard on hand is a useful way to help the pitching staff cope with this increased workload.  It remains to be seen exactly how long Allard might stick on the Guardians’ roster, however, and since he is out of minor league options, the Guards would have to first designate him for assignment and expose him to waivers before outrighting him back to the minors.  Allard would again have the ability to opt for free agency over an outright assignment, should this situation play out.

Sabrowski began the season the 15-day IL after elbow inflammation kept him from pitching during Spring Training.  A move to the 60-day injured list counts as no surprise since Sabrowski will still need a lengthy ramp-up period to make up for the lack of his regular prep time, though it means his 2025 debut will be held off until late May at the earliest.  (As a reminder, the clock for a 60-day IL placement starts at the time of an initial IL placement, not from the time a player is officially moved to the 60-day.)

Guardians Designate Triston McKenzie For Assignment

By | at

The Guardians announced that right-hander Triston McKenzie has been designated for assignment. They’ve selected the contract of righty Zak Kent from Triple-A Columbus in his place. The DFA marks the culmination of a lengthy period of struggle that dates back to 2023 for McKenzie, who once looked like a potential building block in Cleveland’s rotation.

McKenzie missed significant time in 2023 with a UCL injury that never wound up requiring surgery. He struggled before and after a pair of lengthy IL stints that season and has yet to regain his footing. He’s also out of minor league options, so the Guards couldn’t send him to Triple-A. McKenzie was one of a handful of notable out-of-options players we highlighted as a potential change-of-scenery candidate this spring. Given his pre-injury track record, it seems likely that another club will take a chance on him, presumably via a minor trade but at the very least via waivers.

Back in 2022, a then-24-year-old McKenzie broke out with 191 1/3 innings of 2.96 ERA ball. He punched out 25.6% of his opponents against a terrific 5.9% walk rate. That ostensible breakout came on the heels of a four-year run in which McKenzie ranked among the sport’s top-100 prospects. He didn’t throw hard, sitting 92.5 mph with his four-seamer, but he generated swinging strikes and chases on pitches off the plate at rates well north of the average pitcher. Given the right-hander’s prospect status and Cleveland’s penchant for churning out quality pitchers on a near-annual basis, McKenzie looked like the next in a long line of homegrown rotation arms to call Progressive Field home.

The previously mentioned UCL injury limited McKenzie to only four starts in 2023, however, and he looked like a completely different pitcher in 2024. The lanky 6’5″, 175-pound righty saw his average fastball freefall to 91.1 mph last year. His once-plus command was gone. He walked 14.4% of his opponents in 75 2/3 innings after having dished out free passes at a grisly 17.8% clip during that injury-ruined 2023 season. He allowed an average of 1.18 homers per nine innings during his standout 2022 season but saw that mark skyrocket to 2.26 per nine frames in ’24.

No longer able to entrust McKenzie with a rotation spot, the Guardians looked elsewhere to fill in the starting staff this winter. They acquired righty Luis Ortiz from the Pirates and re-signed Shane Bieber to a two-year deal (with an opt-out) while he mends from last year’s Tommy John surgery.

McKenzie opened the 2025 season in the bullpen. The Guards surely hoped that he could either find his footing as a reliever or pitch his way back into consideration for a starting role. Neither has happened. While McKenzie’s velocity is back up to an average of 93.7 mph on his heater, that’s likely due to him working in short-relief stints as opposed to being asked to face a lineup two to three times per outing. He’s pitched only 5 2/3 innings this season and been clobbered for seven runs. Command is still a glaring issue; he’s served up seven hits (including a homer), walked seven of his 30 opponents (23.3%) and already been charged with three wild pitches. McKenzie has only set down four batters on strikes.

Any team to claim McKenzie or acquire him via trade will at this point be rolling the dice on a reclamation project. McKenzie hasn’t worked more than 1 2/3 innings in a single appearance this season, so he’s also not presently stretched out enough to join someone’s rotation even if they want to take a look at him as a starter. He could be built back up on the fly, but that’s a tough task when already asking a player to switch teams and go through all the inherent, associated changes (learning new coaches and catchers, making tweaks to delivery and pitch selection, etc.).

The Guardians can trade McKenzie or place him on outright waivers at any point in the next five days. Waivers themselves are a 48-hour process, meaning his DFA will be resolved within a week’s time at most. He’s earning $1.95MM this season. An acquiring club would be on the hook for about $1.69MM as of this writing (or a bit less depending on when he’s claimed/traded). He’s controllable for two additional seasons beyond the current campaign.

Turning to Kent, he’s a former Rangers farmhand whom Cleveland acquired in a March 2024 trade that sent international bonus pool space back to Texas. He missed the majority of the 2024 season due to an elbow strain, however. The Guards designated Kent for assignment last summer, released him and quickly re-signed him on a new minor league pact. (Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers.)

Today’s promotion puts Kent in line for his MLB debut. He’s healthy again and pitching well in Columbus, where he’s tossed 7 2/3 frames of relief and held opponents to a pair of runs. Kent has allowed three hits and fanned 10, though his four walks are higher than he or the team would prefer, and he’s also plunked a batter.

Kent ranked in the Rangers’ top 30 prospects from 2022-24, per Baseball America, and he’ll head to MLB with a solid track record at the top minor league level. Kent carries a lifetime 4.00 ERA in 92 innings across parts of four seasons there, although that number is skewed a bit by last year’s injury-marred season. Kent was rocked for an ERA north of 7.00 in 23 innings there, though it seems fair to suggest his elbow injury contributed to those struggles. He’s posted strong numbers in each of his other partial Triple-A seasons. Subtracting the injury-plagued ’24 campaign, Kent has a 2.88 ERA in 68 2/3 Triple-A frames.

Guardians Re-Sign Zak Kent To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Guardians re-signed righty Zak Kent to a minor league contract yesterday, the team announced. Cleveland had released him a couple weeks after designating him for assignment on June 29 as the corresponding move for the Matthew Boyd signing.

Kent has not pitched in Triple-A since April 14. The team announced yesterday that he’s battling a strain in his throwing elbow and is going on the minor league injured list. Players cannot be placed on outright waivers while they’re hurt. The Guardians could only trade or release Kent once they’d designated him for assignment. The injury meant there’d be no trade interest, so Cleveland had to release him. After a couple weeks on the market, the VMI product returns to the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

The 26-year-old Kent is trying to reach the big leagues for the first time. He was taken by the Rangers in the ninth round of the 2019 draft. Kent pitched his way to Triple-A by the end of the ’22 campaign and secured a spot on the 40-man roster as Texas decided to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. That put Kent on the doorstep of the big leagues, but he has spent most of the past two seasons on the injured list. He was limited to 34 innings across 10 starts in Triple-A a year ago and has pitched just three times this season.

Cleveland acquired Kent on Opening Day in a deal that sent international signing bonus space to Texas. While the elbow issue cost him his spot on the 40-man, he remains of interest to the Guards’ front office as a depth starter. Kent has a 3.99 ERA with an above-average 26.7% strikeout percentage over parts of five seasons in the minors.

Guardians Activate Eli Morgan, Designate Zak Kent

By | at

The Guardians announced some roster moves today, including the official signing of Matthew Boyd to a Major League deal, and then Boyd’s placement on the 15-day injured list as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery.  Right-hander Eli Morgan was also activated from the 15-day IL, while righty Darren McCaughan was optioned to Triple-A and righty Zak Kent was designated for assignment.

Debuting in the majors as a starter in 2021, Morgan has found a lot more success since moving to the bullpen, posting a 3.54 ERA in 145 innings for the Guardians from 2022-24.  That includes a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings this year, though that impressive number is heavily tempered by a 5.47 SIERA, as Morgan’s secondary metrics include an 11.1% walk rate and a 15.6% strikeout rate.  That K% is well below his 26.5% mark from 2022-23, though Morgan might be able to more fully get on track now that he has recovered from a month-long bout of elbow inflammation.

Cleveland acquired Kent from the Rangers this past March, in a trade that sent some extra international bonus pool money to Texas.  Kent had spent his entire career in the Rangers’ system since being a ninth-round pick in the 2019 draft, but his time with Triple-A Columbus has consisted of just three appearances.  Kent hasn’t pitched since April 14 due to a right elbow strain, so today’s transaction is likely a way for the Guards to move Kent off their 40-man roster and potentially move him to the big league 60-day IL.

This would give Kent the first MLB service time of his career, as he has yet to make his proper on-field big league debut.  The righty has some solid minor league numbers (including a 2.73 ERA over 66 career Triple-A frames), but he has been hampered by injuries in each of the last three seasons.

Guardians Acquire Peter Strzelecki From D-backs, Zak Kent From Rangers

By | at

The Guardians announced this morning that they’ve completed a pair of trades for pitching depth. Cleveland acquired right-hander Peter Strzelecki from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash and acquired righty Zak Kent from the Rangers in exchange for international bonus pool space. Arizona designated Strzelecki for assignment earlier in the week. Both pitchers will be added to the Guardians’ 40-man roster, which had two vacant spots but is now at capacity.

Now 29 years old, Strzelecki broke into the majors as an unheralded 27-year-old rookie with the 2022 Brewers and quickly became a vital part of their bullpen that season. The undrafted righty made 30 appearances out of the ’pen and tossed 35 innings with a 2.83 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 35 innings. As an extreme fly-ball pitcher (31.1% ground-ball rate) in a hitter-friendly park who’d had some good fortune in terms of home runs (0.51 HR/9, 5.3% homer-to-flyball rate) there was always some potential for regression, but Strzelecki stumbled in 2023 for what appeared to be different reasons.

While Strzelecki managed to continue yielding home runs at a much lower rate than the average pitcher, he also lost more than a mile per hour off his fastball and saw his strikeout rate drop notable, from 27% to 22.7%. He offset some of that drop in whiffs with more grounders (38.1%) and fewer walks (7.4%), but his earned run average still jumped to 4.38 in last year’s 37 frames. Metrics like FIP (2.94 in 2022, 3.93 in 2023) and SIERA (3.47 in ’22, 3.93 in ’23) felt his jump in ERA was deserved, though perhaps not quite to the extent it actually increased.

The Brewers sent Strzelecki to the D-backs in a deadline swap that brought veteran lefty Andrew Chafin back to Milwaukee. Arizona only gave him 1 1/3 innings in the big leagues following that trade, and Strzelecki was designated for assignment earlier this week when a spot on the 40-man roster was needed for backup catcher Tucker Barnhart. The right-hander still has a minor league option remaining and is controllable for five more seasons if he can get back on track in his new surroundings.

Kent, 26, was the Rangers’ ninth-round pick back in 2019 but climbed into the middle tiers of the Rangers’ top 30 prospects and was selected to the 40-man roster following the 2022 season. At the time, the move was made to protect Kent from being selected in that year’s Rule 5 Draft — which seemed quite likely to happen had he gone unprotected. Kent had just wrapped up a 2022 season that was split between Double-A and Triple-A, wherein he pitched a combined 109 2/3 innings of 3.94 ERA ball with roughly average strikeout and walk rates. Baseball America credited him with a plus heater and slider in addition to a solid-average curveball but below-average command.

Kent missed time in 2022 with back, hip and oblique injuries, and health troubles (oblique and shoulder issues) hindered his 2023 season even further. He pitched just 40 2/3 frames last year — plus another 16 2/3 in the Arizona Fall League. He showed slightly improved strikeout and walk rates when healthy, though he was still hit hard during AFL play. Kent appeared in three spring games for the Rangers but was tagged for five earned runs with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two) in 3 2/3 innings. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining.

The Guards are opening the season with righty Gavin Williams on the injured list and will be without frequently injured pitching prospect Daniel Espino for the entire season. They also lost setup man Trevor Stephan to Tommy John surgery, while relievers James Karinchak (elbow) and Sam Hentges (finger) are on the injured list as well. Strzelecki and Kent aren’t likely to step right onto the active roster, but they’ll give Cleveland some additional depth to help navigate that slew of injuries to begin the season.

Rangers Notes: Jung, Duffy, Rotation

By | at

TODAY: The MRI revealed a minor strain for Jung, according to RangersToday.com’s Jeff Wilson and other reporters.  Both Jung and manager Bruce Bochy feel Jung will be recovered for Opening Day, with some slight disagreement on the timeline — Jung said he’ll miss two weeks, while Bochy feels Jung will be sidelined for three weeks.

FEB. 16: Camp only just opened this week, but the Rangers are already facing one potentially worrisome injury situation. Third baseman Josh Jung experienced discomfort in his calf while fielding grounders today and is headed for an MRI, tweets Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com. The club will provide further details once the imaging has been performed and evaluated by medical personnel.

Jung just turned 26 years old this week and was the fourth-place finisher in American League Rookie of the Year voting this past season. The former No. 8 overall draft pick belted 23 home runs and slashed .266/.315/.467 with sharp defense at the hot corner. Were it not for a fractured left thumb that kept him out of action for six weeks, he’d very likely have been a top-three finisher and could’ve potentially even given eventual winner Gunnar Henderson a run for his money.

At this point, there’s no indication the team believes the injury to be serious, though the pending MRI exam suggests there’s at least some degree of concern. The Rangers are relatively deep in infield talent, so in the event that Jung needs to miss any time, they’ll have options. Ezequiel Duran stepped up in Duran’s absence last season, and Josh H. Smith has ample experience at the corner as well. Veteran Matt Duffy is in camp as a non-roster player this spring and would give the Rangers a solid glove and contact-oriented bat at the position if he makes the team.

On the topic of non-roster Duffys, Matt isn’t the only one in camp. Veteran left-hander Danny Duffy also inked a minor league pact with Texas this season and could be an important depth piece for a club that will open the season with Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle on the injured list and all likely out into the summer. The 35-year-old southpaw hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since the 2021 season due to injuries but has been with the Dodgers (2022) and Rangers (2023) for the past two seasons while working toward a return. Texas used him as a reliever in the minors in ’23, but Kennedi Landry of MLB.com tweets that Duffy is building up as a starter in camp this time around.

It’s a familiar role for Duffy, the longtime Royals hurler who’s made 204 of his 234 career appearances out of the rotation. Aside from a brief dalliance in the bullpen in 2015-16, Duffy was a fixture on Kansas City’s starting staff from 2014-21, during which time he logged a 3.82 ERA in 1015 innings while punching out 21.3% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate. Duffy is now 35 years old and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in Dec. 2021. He’s pitched a total of 42 1/3 innings in the minors across the past two seasons. Expecting a full bounceback to his peak Royals form isn’t realistic, but if he’s healthy he should be a legitimate option to help the staff.

Getting any contributions from Duffy or fellow non-roster invitees José Ureña and Adrian Sampson would be a boon for the Rangers. Texas is set to enter the season with a rotation including Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and likely Cody Bradford. It’s a much weaker group than the World Series-winning outfit that finished out the 2023 season with Scherzer and current free agent Jordan Montgomery atop the staff. But general manager Chris Young has indicated he doesn’t anticipate any more additions to the big league roster at this point, strongly suggesting that the current group is the one the Rangers will carry into the season.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News takes a look at the in-house depth options that stalled out last season. Former top prospects Jack Leiter, Cole Winn, Owen White and Zak Kent all struggled in various ways in ’23. Righty Kumar Rocker, the No. 3 pick back in 2022, underwent Tommy John surgery last May.

That group was expected to produce some pivotal long-term rotation pieces, but each prospect has seen his stock drop amid poor performance and/or injury. Grant notes that Leiter, who was shut down for nearly two months last year to work on his mechanics, spent the offseason working out with American League Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray and veteran catcher Curt Casali. The trio all attended Vanderbilt (at different times, obviously). Gray worked with Leiter on simplifying his approach and his plan on the mound. Grant chatted not only with Leiter but also White and Kent about some of the changes they’ve made as they look to get back on track and contribute at a time when the Rangers will be leaning more heavily on internal pitching depth than at any point in 2023.

Rangers Select Six Players

By | at

The Rangers have selected the contracts of six players who’d otherwise have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Infielders Luisangel Acuña and Jonathan Ornelas, outfielder Dustin Harris and pitchers Cole Winn, Owen White and Zak Kent have all gotten added to the 40-man roster, which is now at capacity.

Acuña, the younger brother of Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., is a solid prospect in his own right. A right-handed hitter, Luisangel Acuña plays the middle infield. Baseball America credits him with plus defense at shortstop and considers him the #6 prospect in the Texas organization. Despite not turning 21 years old until March, he’s already played his way to Double-A. Acuña split the season between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco, combining for a .277/.369/.426 line through 409 plate appearances. He struggled in Double-A after an excellent showing in High-A and looks likely to start next year in Frisco.

Texas drafted Ornelas in the third round out of an Arizona high school in 2018. A righty-swinging infielder who’s played each of shortstop, second base and third base, he spent the whole season in Frisco. Ornelas had a solid .299/.360/.425 mark through 580 plate appearances, collecting 14 home runs and stolen bases apiece. He’s not among Texas’ top 30 prospects at BA but has shown decent contact skills and an ability to play the infield.

Harris was an 11th-round pick of the A’s in the 2019 draft out of a Florida junior college. Oakland dealt him to Texas in the Mike Minor trade in 2020. A left-handed hitter, he’s played mostly first base and left field in the minors. Harris is a bat-first prospect who’s coming off a .257/.346/.471, 17-homer showing in 85 games with Frisco. BA slots him 10th in the organization, praising his contact and power combination.

Winn was the 15th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of a California high school. The right-hander was regarded as a possible big league rotation piece heading into this year after a strong Double-A performance. He scuffled during his first extended crack with Triple-A Round Rock, allowing a 6.51 ERA with a massive 15.2% walk rate over 28 starts. He’ll try to right the ship next season and get back into the MLB rotation picture, but there was never much doubt he’d secure a 40-man roster spot this winter.

White, a 2nd-round pick in the 2018 draft out of a North Carolina high school, has surpassed Winn on the prospect radar. The 23-year-old righty didn’t throw a professional pitch until 2021 because of Tommy John surgery and the cancelation of the 2020 minor league season, but he’s performed well to make up for lost time. He put up a 3.59 ERA in 80 1/3 frames between Hickory and Frisco, striking out 31.7% of opponents. He placed fifth in the system on BA’s midseason update and could factor into the MLB rotation at some point next year.

Kent was a ninth-rounder in 2019 out of VMI. He started all 24 of his appearances in the upper minors last season, working to a 3.94 ERA through 109 2/3 innings. He punched out a decent 23.8% of batters faced against a 9.3% walk rate. He’s 25th in the system at Baseball America and could be a back-of-the-rotation option in the near future.

Jeff Wilson was first to report the moves.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top