Red Sox Sign Closer Kenley Jansen
The Red Sox have publically missed out on a lot of free agents this Winter. When it comes to the bullpen, Boston has been very active. Joely Rodriguez, Chris Martin, and now Kenley Jansen will head to Boston for the 2023 MLB Season. Yes, that’s right. The Red Sox have their new closer.
Jeff Passan at ESPN was the first to report the news. Jansen will sign a two year agreement with the Red Sox for $32 million.
Jansen, 35, spent last season with the Braves after spending his entire career in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. The Red Sox bullpen gets a huge boost for a staff that had the 5th worst ERA in baseball (4.59) and ninth-worst FIP (4.13). A lot of that had to do with the 5th worst walk rate as well. Someone of Jansen’s caliber should have a trickle down effect to the rest of the pen.
Jansen may be aging but the new Sox closer still has it. Jansen ranked in the 93rd percentile in K rate, 98th percentile in xBA allowed, and 93rd percentile in xSLG allowed. That’s while also sporting an ERA of 3.38 and notching 41 saves a year ago.
The Red Sox still have a lot of work to do to finish off this offseason. Most notably re-signing their star shortstop Xander Bogaerts. One thing that’s been taken care of is this bullpen that has a chance to be really good when you had John Schreiber and Tanner Houck to the equation.
