The Rangers have moved on from Jarred Kelenic, releasing the outfielder after a short and uneven run in Texas, according to DLLS Sports’ Jeff Wilson.
Kelenic’s time with the Rangers never really got off the ground. He posted a .425 OPS in 10 plate appearances across seven games, collecting just one hit and two walks before spending most of July at Triple-A Round Rock. Texas had already cycled him through a pair of minor league deals this season, and the latest release sends him back into free agency once again.
His path to this point has been a familiar one. Kelenic signed a minor league deal with the White Sox in the offseason, appeared in 19 games, and produced a .626 OPS over 59 plate appearances before Chicago designated him for assignment in late May.
He chose free agency rather than accept an outright assignment, then landed with Texas on the first of two minor league contracts. The Rangers selected his contract in mid-June, gave him seven big league appearances, and then designated him for assignment again.
Kelenic once more elected free agency before quickly returning to the Rangers on another minors deal.
For the season, Kelenic is hitting .213/.304/.295 across 69 plate appearances between Chicago and Texas. At Triple-A, though, the numbers have looked much better: .298/.403/.571 in 227 plate appearances. That production could be viewed as a bounce-back after he struggled with Atlanta’s Triple-A club in 2025, but his inability to translate that success to the majors has only deepened the “Quad-A” label that has followed him.
Even with the stop-and-start big league results, Kelenic still has some things working in his favor. He just turned 27 on July 16, can handle all three outfield spots, and still carries the cachet of a former top prospect. That combination makes it easy to imagine another team taking a shot on him as a late bloomer.
The timing of his release may also point to something else. It could mean Kelenic already has a deal lined up overseas, where a guaranteed contract might look better than the instability of life in the minors. Since he is out of minor league options, another MLB opportunity would likely come with the same DFA-and-outright shuffle he has already been through this year.
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