Jarred Kelenic is back on the market after the Texas Rangers cut ties with him on Sunday, ending a stint that lasted less than two months.
Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reported the move, which came after Kelenic had been with Texas on a minor league deal since June 2. The 27-year-old outfielder had been designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox in May, then landed with the Rangers and eventually got a shot on the major league roster later that month.
That opportunity didn’t last long. Kelenic played in seven games for Texas and managed just one hit in eight at-bats before being designated for assignment. He chose free agency, then returned to the Rangers on another minor league contract.
The release doesn’t seem to have been driven by what he was doing in Round Rock. Kelenic was hitting .374 with a 1.105 OPS, five home runs and 11 doubles in 27 games there this season. Across 227 Triple-A plate appearances in 2026, he put together a .298/.403/.571 line.
The problem, as has so often been the case, showed up when he got back to the big leagues. Between his time with the White Sox and Rangers this year, Kelenic hit .213 with a .539 OPS in 69 plate appearances.
Kelenic’s path to this point has been a winding one. The New York Mets took him No. 6 overall in the 2018 MLB Draft, and he was viewed as a top-five prospect in baseball by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America during his minor league rise. New York dealt him to the Seattle Mariners in December 2018 in the Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz trade.
He reached the majors with Seattle in 2021, but the early years didn’t go smoothly. Kelenic finally flashed more of what made him such a prized prospect in 2023, when he hit .253 with 11 home runs and an OPS+ of 111. Even so, he never locked down consistent success in the majors.
After the Mariners traded him to the Atlanta Braves before the 2024 season, Kelenic hit .220 with a .660 OPS over two seasons there before signing with the White Sox earlier this year.
Now he’s once again looking for his next stop, with his future open whether that comes in the majors or overseas.
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