The Los Angeles Dodgers have begun reporting to Spring Training with pitchers and catchers showing up on Thursday before the rest of the squad reports on February 13.
While Spring Training is underway, there are many quality players still available to be had this offseason. On the free agent market, Cody Bellinger and Blake Snell lead a group of star-level players still available.
On the trade market, Kenley Jansen is the name with the most smoke around a potential deal. According to J.P. Morosi of MLB Network, the Boston Red Sox are open to dealing their closer:
“I was told the Red Sox are in fact listening on Jansen, but there has to be a second part of this. If you trade this, it’s not just to trade him. It’s because either A: Craig Breslow trying to bring in multiples of pitching back to replenish the depth of the Red Sox. Or by clearing some of Jansen’s salary, that they could potentially free up enough money to then make a play for one of the available free agents.”
The Dodgers have been connected to Jansen this offseason, and according to Morosi, people around baseball seem to believe they are the most likely landing spot for the closer as they search for additional bullpen help:
“The quickest answer and one that a lot of people in the industry think is at least somewhat viable, is the Dodgers. They of course know Jansen well, they’ve been very aggressive this offseason, as you may have heard, and they also want to continue adding more pitching to their bullpen. So if he moves, keep an eye on the team that he’s spent the vast majority of his career with.”
Morosi also mentioned the Philadelphia Phillies as a team to watch.
The Dodgers already made a significant move to address their reliever group when they traded Caleb Ferguson to the New York Yankees and signed Ryan Brasier. However, adding Jansen would give them another talented arm and allow them to further deepen their group.
If Jansen was acquired, he would slot back into the closer role, allowing Evan Phillips to return to the fireman role the club prefers him in, while also giving them a group of Brusdar Graterol, Brasier, Alex Vesia and potentially Blake Treinen and J.P. Feyereisen to bridge the gap to the ninth.
Kenley Jansen 2023 stats and career
Jansen was once again one of the top closers in baseball in 2023, pitching to a 3.63 ERA in 44.2 innings with 29 saves and a 27.7% strikeout rate compared to a 9% walk rate. He earned his fourth career All-Star appearance just one season after leading MLB with 41 saves.
Jansen spent 12 years of his 14-year career with the Dodgers, totaling 705 innings pitched and becoming the franchise’s all-time saves leader with 350. He reached the 400 career save mark in 2023 and thanked the Dodgers coaches and staff.
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