MLB Trade Rumors: Red Sox Plan to Deal Kenley Jansen by 2024 Deadline

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVMay 27, 2024

Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

Don’t expect Kenley Jansen to finish the 2024 season with the Boston Red Sox.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Red Sox “plan to trade All-Star veteran closer Jansen by the trade deadline. He’s earning $16 million this year and the Red Sox have no interest in bringing him back.”

Jansen, 36, will be a free agent after the season. Over parts of two seasons in Boston he’s registered 38 saves in 43 opportunities, registering a 4-7 record with a 3.52 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 68 appearances.

To put those numbers in some perspective, Jansen went 5-2 in his lone season for the Atlanta Braves in 2022, saving 41 games in 48 opportunities with a 3.38 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 85 strikeouts across 65 total appearances. That earned him his fourth All-Star Game nod.

In Boston, Jansen hasn’t quite been the elite closer he was for the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier in his career or with the Braves for one season. But he’s hardly been a liability.

Still, trade rumors have regularly persisted dating back to the winter, and Jansen has tried to block out the noise.

B/R Walk-Off @BRWalkoffCould we see a return to LA for Kenley Jansen at the deadline? 👀

(w/ @JonHeyman) pic.twitter.com/cxaWgvhIVq

“Just keep my mind off. At the end of the day, I love this game, and this is where I’m at right now, and I’m always going to invest my time wherever I am,” he told reporters in February when asked how he was handling those rumors. “To me, just focus on the fact I’m here and I signed here for two years, and I’m going to try to do everything to improve this ballclub.”

It wouldn’t be a surprise if a contending team in need of bullpen help eventually gave the Red Sox a call. Granted, the team is currently 27-26, and if Boston goes on a run between now and late July, it could rethink dealing Jansen.

But if the Red Sox fall further behind the New York Yankees (37-18) and Baltimore Orioles (33-18) in the AL East and also lag behind in the Wild Card hunt, Jansen probably will be pitching elsewhere down the stretch.