By Ken Rosenthal, Jen McCaffrey and Chad Jennings
Free-agent pitcher Kenley Jansen is in agreement with the Boston Red Sox on a two-year, $32 million contract, a major-league source told The Athletic. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report the news. Here’s what you need to know:
- Jansen was 5-2 for the Braves last season, with a 3.38 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
- Jansen, 35, recorded a National League-leading 41 saves in 2022.
- Jansen pitched 64 innings in 2022.
Source confirms: Free-agent reliever Kenley Jansen in agreement with Red Sox on two-year, $32M contract, pending physical. First: @JeffPassan.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2022
Scouting report
Jansen played 12 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is a three-time All-Star, World Series champion (2020) and a two-time NL Reliever of the Year.
Jansen became the 30th closer to tally 300 career saves on Sept. 25, 2019. Last March, he signed a one-year deal with the Braves.
How Jansen fits with the Red Sox
Red Sox relievers posted a 4.59 ERA and 27 blown saves last season, both tied for fifth worst in baseball, so improving the bullpen was a priority this winter as their first two moves before Jansen included adding relievers Joely Rodríguez and Chris Martin (though Martin’s deal has yet to be finalized).
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Signing Jansen is the definitive move of the offseason so far for the Red Sox but still a shocker as the club had given no indication they were pursuing a top-of-the-line closer but rather hinted they may pursue multiple established relievers to take on high-leverage innings late in the game. Nevertheless, Jansen makes the bullpen definitively stronger and has saved 38 and 41 games respectively the last two years. While he missed a few weeks last season with an irregular heartbeat and has dealt with heart-related issues throughout his career, Jansen has been a workhorse making at least 60 appearances every season since 2016 (not counting the shortened 2020 season).
As far as the rest of the bullpen, Rodríguez, Martin, Tanner Houck, John Schreiber and Matt Barnes will likely share the workload in the sixth through eighth innings ahead of Jansen. -McCaffrey
Assessing the contract value
Jansen made $16 million on a one-year deal last season. Now he’s a year older and will make $16 million for the next two seasons at ages 35 and 36. But given how well he pitched last season, and how expensive the pitching market has been, it was getting hard to envision Jansen taking much less.
When the offseason started, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden predicted a two-year, $34-million deal for the closer. The Red Sox missed out on a handful of pitchers in recent days, and sources had said they weren’t necessarily prioritizing a closer, but they needed at least one more arm for the bullpen and ultimately paid what it took to get him. – Jennings
Other offseason priorities for Boston
The Red Sox still have plenty to do this offseason including trying to re-sign Xander Bogaerts, add another starter, an outfielder and a designated hitter, with a preference for a right-handed bat. They also have been in talks with Rafael Devers for a contract extension. -McCaffrey
Required reading
- As Red Sox rebuild bullpen, a traditional closer may not be in their plans
- For Red Sox, what would make for a successful Winter Meetings?
- MLB free agency live updates: Latest news on major signings
(Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)