The Red Sox will play their final game at Yankee Stadium this season Sunday afternoon. When they return to the Bronx on June 6, could closer Kenley Jansen be on the other side?
Kenley Jansen is nearing the end of his two-year contract with the Red Sox. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)AP
It’s a possibility. According to major league sources, the Yankees made a serious run at Jansen before he signed a two-year, $32 million contract with Boston in Dec. 2022. With mercurial All-Star Clay Holmes heading for free agency after the season, it’s more than likely the Yankees look to add a big-time piece at the back end of their relief corps. And Jansen, at nearly 37 years old, just wants to win wherever he goes next.
“I’m always gonna look for winning. Contending,” Jansen said Saturday. “That’s going to be my priority. My agent will do the rest. I want to be in a situation where we can contend for a title. That’s it.”
As Jansen looks back at his two seasons in Boston — a strong period of personal performance in which he made an All-Star team, logged a 3.55 ERA and converted 55 of 63 save chances — he acknowledged that his feelings on the experience are a complicated one. After a 10-year streak of pitching in the postseason with the Dodgers (2013-21) and Braves (2022), he’s on pace to miss the playoffs for the second straight year. That doesn’t sit well with him.
“I don’t know what to say,” Jansen said. “For me, I’m a guy who always wanted to make it to the playoffs. Where I came from, it was always titles. We fell short last year. This year, we’re still in it but for me, it’s disappointing. That’s who I am. You want to get to the playoffs and play for a championship.
“I’ve been playing this for a long time,” he added. “Ten times in the postseason, three times in the World Series, one time a champion. There’s going to be that selfishness of getting to the playoffs. When we get to the playoffs, my numbers are going to be great because that means I’m closing a lot of ballgames. That means the team is in a great position for me to work.”
Still, the fact Jansen has pitched well — he believes he should have been an All-Star again this year after a strong first half — outside of some notable short stretches of struggles over the last two years has encouraged him as he heads to the open market again. The Curaçao native believes time is on his side.
“I love it. It’s beautiful,” Jansen said. “It’s how I stick with my workouts and my routines in a sport I love so much and I can enjoy playing. I’m not taking that for granted right now. It makes me want to get back in the gym this offseason and work twice as hard to be even better.
“Age is just a number. I think I can still play it for a little bit longer, at least until I’m 40-42. Why not? Next year is another year. How I’m throwing the ball makes me want to get back in the gym.”
Jansen was disappointed when the Dodgers didn’t make a strong enough effort to re-sign him after the 2021 season but found a soft landing in Atlanta, where he signed a one-year, $16 million deal with the team he grew up rooting for after the 2022 lockout was lifted. He went to free agency with more of an open mind a year later and had a slew of big-market suitors before locking up a contract with the Red Sox the same day Boston saw Xander Bogaerts depart for the Padres. At that point, he chose the Red Sox over the Yankees and others because he believed in the vision chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and manager Alex Cora laid out for him.
“There was a lot of teams involved,” Jansen said. “A.C. and Chaim at that time convinced me really well that they’d definitely contend for a title that second year. Of course, things sometimes change.”
The Red Sox finished 78-84 last season, last in the American League East. Barring a late-season miracle, they’ll miss the postseason again this year after a brutal second half. Jansen has not been shy about his displeasure regarding how the Sox operated over the winter, when instead of making major moves to contend in 2024, they operated with an eye on the future. At points during spring training and the regular season, Jansen acknowledged some uneasiness about constant trade rumors that involved him. Many in the industry expected to be dealt before the deadline but the Sox’ surge at the end of the first half of the season led the team to buy while holding on to pending free agents like Jansen, Chris Martin, Tyler O’Neill and Nick Pivetta.
Jansen’s desire to sign with a contending team was strong two winters ago, too.
“It ended up being the opposite,” Jansen said. “But there’s a switch, also, too, after my first year (from Bloom to Craig Breslow). They switched the front office a little bit. The vision — I’m not saying it changed — but maybe they’re looking more for the future. I want to see this team, soon here, raise a championship. This city deserves it.”
Big-market teams will loom as threats to sign Jansen once again. The Yankees are a strong match and Jansen has made it clear he’d love to be back with the Dodgers at some point in his career. The Red Sox can’t be counted out, either, with question marks at the end of their bullpen. Cora has said repeatedly this season that the value of having a set closer like Jansen is a luxury he wants to continue having in the future. A reunion can’t be ruled out between the sides and it’s a possibility Jansen would entertain.
“Even though it’s disappointing, I had a blast wearing this uniform, playing for these fans,” he said. “I don’t know what the future holds, if the interest level will be there. We’ll see. For sure, wearing this uniform, I’m definitely proud wearing it. Legendary uniform, legendary organization and the city’s unbelievable. I love the city. I love the fans. Of course, I want to keep throwing baseballs for them. But I just want to contend for a title. We’ll see what direction they want this team to go.
“If you look at the future, you’ve got very good young players. The future is going to be bright here soon. You can see players, what they have, from Wilyer Abreu to (Ceddanne) Rafaela to (Brayan) Bello to Justin (Slaten). You can see the talent around. I definitely think it’s going to be bright here, the future.”
