There's a Kent playing second base for a team competing for a baseball championship.
That would be a statement true of either the 2002 San Francisco Giants or the 2024 Texas A&M Aggies. Jeff Kent won his third consecutive Silver Slugger with the Giants in 2002 and helped to power San Francisco to the World Series. His son, Kaeden Kent, is manning the keystone for the Aggies as the No. 3 team in the nation looks to win the first national championship in program history.
Kaeden is a standout player for this championship-contending Aggie team. He has an OPS of .872 with three home runs and as many strikeouts as walks (16) as of Monday's clash with Kentucky.
As Kaeden is hoping to continue his team's run in Omaha, here's what you need to know about his family, including his MLB All-Star dad.
MORE: College World Series scores, schedule
Kaeden Kent family tree
Kaeden Kent's dad: Jeff Kent
Jeff Kent is among the most prolific bats at second base in MLB history. Among qualifying MLB players who played at least 88 percent of their games at second, Kent ranks first in home runs (377), second in OPS (.855), and 13th in Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (55.4), according to Stathead.
Kent logged 17 years in the majors, during which time he racked up 2,461 hits, 1,518 RBIs, 1,320 runs, and a slash line of .290/.356/.500. Despite his litany of accomplishments, he was controversially left outside the Hall of Fame on his 10th and final year of BBWAA voting, receiving only 46.5 percent of the vote. He needed 75 percent.
That illustrious career began in 1989 when he was drafted in the 20th round by the Blue Jays out of UC Berkeley. He spent two full seasons in the minors before he was promoted to start the 1992 season with Toronto. Midseason, he was traded to the Mets for pitcher David Cone. Though Kent was not with the Blue Jays when they won the 1992 World Series, he later said he received a ring for his contribution in the 65 games with Toronto, per SABR.
Kent had a solid season for the Mets in 1993, hitting 21 homers as a 25-year-old. The Mets moved to third base in 1996, but he was later traded to Cleveland for Carlos Baerga.
The next offseason, Kent was part of a deal with Joe Roa and Julian Tavarez to the Giants for Cleveland to acquire Matt Williams. Upon arriving in San Francisco, Kent was entrenched at second for the remainder of his career, playing only a handful of games at first base or DH.
Kent immediately established himself as yet another star in the potent San Francisco lineup. That first season, Kent played in 155 games and hit 29 home runs with a .789 OPS, placing eighth in MVP voting. He had a .914 OPS with 31 homers the next year, earning him another top-10 MVP finish. Kent earned his first All-Star nod in 1999, the same year he hit for the cycle.
MORE: Why heckling Texas A&M fans could be banned from CWS for life
The best year of Kent's career came in 2000. He posted a whopping .334/.424/.596 slash line with 33 home runs, 125 RBIs, and 114 runs scored. The campaign earned him another All-Star appearance, his first Silver Slugger, and the National League MVP. He received 22 of 32 first-place votes, beating his teammate Barry Bonds, who earned six first-place votes. He was only the eighth second baseman in MLB history to win an MVP honor in either league, and he was the first to do so since Ryne Sandberg in 1984.
Kent earned another Silver Slugger in 2001 and a third straight in 2002, the latter campaign being the one in which the Giants went to the World Series, falling in seven games to the Angels. With 108 RBIs in 2002, Kent made it six straight years with at least 100 RBIs, making him the only second baseman to accomplish the feat.
Kent hit free agency after the 2002 season, and he signed a two-year, $18.2 million deal with the Astros. His production was almost identical in back-to-back seasons, as he hit 22 homers with a .860 OPS in 2003 followed by 27 homers and a .880 OPS in 2004. He was named an All-Star for the 2004 campaign.
Following the 2004 season, Kent inked a three-year, $21 million deal with the Dodgers, the rival team of the Giants. The first year in L.A., at age 37, Kent posted an .889 OPS with 29 home runs and was named an All-Star with another Silver Slugger.
Kent battled injuries in 2006, but he came back to have a strong 2007 campaign, reaching base in 38 straight games and posting a .302/.375/.500 slash with 20 homers in 136 games. Kent returned for one more year in 2008, a season that was again marred by injuries, and he retired after the season ended.
Following the end of his career, Kent maintained a presence in baseball. He helped to reinstate Cal's baseball team after an announcement said it would be cut due to budget issues. He's also had an impact on his son's playing career.
Watching a video of his dad reacting to a home run, Kaeden talked about how much it meant to see his dad take in the moment.
"It's super special because he's been helping me my whole life," Kaeden said, per the NCAA. "That's all the times that he's thrown BP to me or helped me out in the cage, all the times that he's been on my case about doing it the right way and then for it to all payoff and for him to have that reaction, it means a lot."
Kaeden gained experiences inside MLB clubhouses by being with his dad, according to Spectrum News 1.
"It's special being in there. It's cool seeing how the Major League guys act, their aura before a game or after. Just taking things that I've seen and how I can apply it to my life," Kaeden said.
MORE: How long is Braden Montgomery out?
Mom: Dana Kent
Kaeden's mom is Dana Kent.
Dana Kent is an elementary school teacher, according to SABR, which reported she was instrumental in helping Jeff Kent establish the Women Driven program at Cal Berkeley in 1998. The program was designed to provide scholarships to female athletes at the school while promoting the benefits of athletics and academics.
Jeff Kent donated $500 for every run he drove in, raising nearly $114,000, per SABR.
Their third-oldest child, Colton Kent, said Dana was not a Mormon, but when she began dating Jeff Kent, she took missionary lessons and converted, according to Deseret News.
Oldest brother: Hunter Kent
Kaeden's oldest brother is Hunter Kent. According to Deseret News, he went to BYU and was a member of the men's basketball practice squad.
Sister: Lauren Kent
Kaeden's sister is Lauren Kent. Per Deseret News, she was married in August 2017 and graduated from BYU in December 2017.
Older brother: Colton Kent
Kaeden's older brother is Colton Kent. He is the third-oldest of the four Kent children.
Like his two older siblings, Colton Kent went to BYU to begin his baseball playing career. Jeff Kent recalled Colton was excellent at a number of physical activities, including skateboarding, biking, motorcycling, wakeboarding, and snowboarding. Because of that, he wasn't surprised his son took to baseball.
"You put him on a baseball field and it was easy for him to catch ground balls. He started to work at it harder when he was in high school," Jeff Kent said, per Deseret News. "I knew he'd play college baseball. Whether or not he’ll play after college baseball, I have no idea. That will be up to him. But I knew he’d be good enough to play college ball."
Colton wound up transferring to the College of Southern Idaho after a year with the Cougars.
