The Dodgers are interested in acquiring Ian Kennedy, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
This isn’t terribly surprising news, as every contending team is always interested in improving their pitching arsenal as the trade deadline approaches. What is surprising is that the Dodgers find themselves three games behind the Giants in the NL West, a team that few picked as division favorites at the start of the season. And that divisional alignment is at least somewhat attributable to the fact that the Dodgers have lost to the Giants by blowing ninth-inning leads the past two nights.
Overall, the bullpen hasn’t been a glaring weakness for the club this year. The Dodgers’ relievers, as a whole, have an ERA of 3.73, the 10th best in the Majors. But they’ve also taken some hits lately, with Jimmy Nelson and Scott Alexander heading to the Injured List. David Price has also had to move from the bullpen to the rotation, in order to cover for the recent injury to Clayton Kershaw.
For Kennedy, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that he will be changing jerseys in the coming week. He is a free agent at year’s end and is currently playing for a Rangers team that is 35-62, behind every team in the American League except the Orioles. Thus far, he’s pitched 31 1/3 innings for Texas, accumulating 15 saves with an ERA of 2.59. Advanced metrics are somewhat skeptical, with xERA, FIP and xFIP pegging him at 3.40, 3.80 and 3.88, respectively. But he has excellent strikeout and walk rates of 26.8% and 5.7%.
Kenley Jansen has been the Dodgers closer for a decade now, and will probably continue in that role. But there are reasons for pessimism in his profile this year. Despite 21 saves, an ERA of 3.05 and a strikeout rate of 27.2%, Jansen has a ghastly walk rate of 16%, more than double his career rate. That’s probably why some advanced metrics think his ERA is a mirage, with xFIP placing him at 4.79 and SIERA at 4.56.
It’s possible this is just small sample noise, since we’re only talking about 38 1/3 innings and Jansen’s Statcast profile still looks quite healthy. But since Jansen is in the last year of his contract and will be 34 years old by season’s end, the Dodgers don’t have to be invested in Jansen for the long term and could certainly pivot to an alternative such as Kennedy if they felt they had to.
On the money side, Kennedy’s is playing on a salary of $2.15MM this year, leaving less than a million still to be paid out. The Dodgers don’t have to worry about tiptoeing under the luxury tax, since they’ve already blown past the top threshold of $250MM. (Roster Resource currently has their luxury tax calculation at $262MM.) But that means that they’re paying a whopping 62.5% tax on any additional salary they take on, which could make a modest contract like Kennedy’s more appealing than a costlier addition such as Craig Kimbrel, who is still owed over $6MM of his $16MM salary this year.
Chev Chelios
Yay for Rangers
sangroazul
ABJ… Anything but Jansen…
aussiegiants53
Ha! Maybe don’t mention Jansen for awhile, poor bloke will need a few days
ChiSox_Fan
Bad umpire calls really cost the LAD yesterday!
aussiegiants53
Yeah look, I thought Ruf went, but he got a bad call in that AB too, but what can you do? Just got to play on, Vosler hustling like he did, line up putting up good AB too, hard loss for them but Giants take it every day
geg42
It was ball 5 to Ruf, but yeah he swung. Amazing to see Jansen give up the lead two nights in a row.
BeforeMcCourt
There are 15 or more blown ball/strike calls in every game.
There are not 15 blown check swings calls that directly change the outcome of the game. They’re not equal. Two umpires messed up the check swing. Missed balls happen every inning and no one cares
Pete'sView
EVERY fan cares about blown calls, and there are way too many, and way too many in crucial at bats. Don’t parse out your data just to suit your team, Before McCourt.
fox471 Dave
Not really, chisox fan. In two innings Jansen threw over 60 pitches, I believe. Yes, there was a terrible no swing call by the first base ump, but The umpire did not load the bases and, then, after the call give up a two run single. The night before, the umps did not give up a two run homer. Against the Rockies, the umps did not blow a save wide open, a few days ago. Regardless of a decent first half, he has been an unmitigated disaster the second half.
The club had to take the ball away from him in 2020. Thank God for Urias. In addition to the Astros cheating in their park, he blew another save in the 2017 WS. Every time Roberts gives him the ball, I leave the room.
ChiSox_Fan
Bad “no swing” call cost them the game. Would have been over and a LAD victory.
Pete'sView
Sure, but before that, a ball 6 inches off the plate was called a strike on Ruf which would have made the AB 3-1 instead of 2-2. Note what fox471 said above. Bad calls abounded, but Jansen blew it.
kcusgnikcufsregdod
wrong. Did the umpires load the bases? Did the umpire fail to stretch out at 2b? Try again.
Gmen777
It was actually 2-0 at the time of that bad call so it would have been 3-0. The way Jansen was pitching I don’t think he would have even got the 3-0 in the zone
goob
The ump actually did Jansen a gigantic (pun intended) favor by gifting him that first strike. There’s an enormous difference between a 2-1 count and a 3-0 count (especially given the precarious, no-margin-for-error, pressure-packed situation that it was for both hitter and pitcher – 2 outs, bottom of the ninth, one run game, bases jammed, pitcher on the ropes!). And with all the abuse Jansen was getting from his own fans (for two nights in a row!) I really felt like the ump made that terrible strike-one call because he kind of felt bad for Jansen (either consciously or sub-consciously). It was out of the zone to a degree that you only rarely see an ump blow so badly. I mean, if anything, when a pitcher is as wild as Jansen was in that inning, an ump is usually going to make the him earn it – not make it easier on him by calling a strike that’s 6 inches off the plate. That made zero sense.
Bottom line: You can’t have it both ways – because blown calls cut both ways. And every baseball fan knows it.
BeforeMcCourt
There were 60+ blown ball/strike calls in the 4 game set
How many blown check swings can you remember this series? for the entire year? 1 blown check swing and it’s likely your manager gets tossed for arguing. Cmon. They’re not equal
Danieley3
The Giants/Dodgers fans arguing the clear Game Over, Ruf Went Around play. The game was over, the Dodgers hung on, & that’s that. However, in the spirit of giving this putrid Giants roster, & their fans, some continued hope, the umps followed Manfred’s instructions & let the Giants get the W. An adorable win for an adorable team… However, the second half of the season will see the Dodgers AND Padres leapfrog the Giants rather quickly, w/ SF finishing the season 12 games back of the eventual division champs, the LAD. The Pads & Braves will grab the Wild Card spots, & Buster Posey will be on the 6th tee box at Spyglass when the first pitch of the 2021 MLB Playoffs commence.
LordD99
So who would be the Rangers closer post trade?
ChiSox_Fan
Codi Heuer
Larry David's Joe Pepitone Jersey
I don’t follow the Rangers closely, but Brett Martin or Josh Sborz seem to make the most sense. It makes no sense for them to hang onto Kennedy anyway, no matter who replaces him.
fathead0507
Spencer Patton.. Sborz is bad and Martin is terrible
Deleted User
They will have to have a lead in the 9th to have a closer.
13Morgs13
The Dodgers farm system just keep turning out talent.
acmeants
How about the Braves?
dodgerskingsfan
wasn’t ian kennedy the pitcher that started that brawl with arizona….. ???
gogoblue
Yes. But since Jeff Kent and Brian Wilson played for the Dodgers at one point of their careers, Kennedy can, too since Jansen is not what he used to be.
madmanTX
Dodgers better cough up for Ian. So Kershaw and who else?
beermefool
Don’t over-inflate Kennedy. He’s at the end of a contract year and old AF. TX will flip him for anything they can get rather than see him walk at the end of a forgettable year and get nothing for him
fox471 Dave
Smile.
skyyalpha
You don’t want Kershaw, he’s injured.
haringbone
Oh yah. You want Kershaw on his expiring contract on your non playoff team? How about the 15 mil still owed this year? Want that too?
BeforeMcCourt
How about the 6th best FIP in the NL? Yeah any team would take kershaw moron..
adultsagainstthedh
WE Dodger fans–trust me, i am one– have become concerned prematurely. And it’s grossly unfair. All of this came about because some are saying, quite irresponsibly, that the completely inadequate, geriatric, washed-up, genetically and morally challenged Giants took 3 of four from US this week.
This is a time for fairness. rather than haste. Let’s not convict Kenley in the court of public opinion. Why would he blow it–that would have been bad PR!. He’s a businessman!
I think those Giants were just out for themselves. They’re that kind.
I prefer to wait for more evidence before turning my back on him.
Next year? Year after? Things should be clear.
Chief Two Hands
This is the final year of Jansen’s contract and I, for one, hope the Dodgers do not re-sign him. I’ve felt that way well before his recent outings. He is simply not strong enough mentally to be the closer he once was, and as he ages he will only continue to be less effective. The guy has had a great career as a closer, and few closers remain effective as long as he did, but I think it will be time to move on by the end of this season, if not sooner.
skyyalpha
I hope they do resign him. At a much lower rate. With the expectation of not being the closer.
Pete'sView
adultsagainstthedh – WTF?
sacball
“I think those Giants were just out for themselves. They’re that kind.” I’m not even going to guess what that is supposed to mean…
laswagn
Prematurely? Jensen hasn’t been the same since the 2017 W.S.
GONEcarlo
Looking at MLBTR’s “Rumors By Team” on the right side of the desktop page made me realize that Cleveland’s name change won’t change the order of teams alphabetically. “Guardians” will still be between “Giants” and “Mariners” alphabetically. Kind of stupid, but I found that interesting.
Chief Two Hands
Maybe post that particularly uninteresting observation on the article about the Cleveland name change, and not the one about the Dodgers pitching interest. Just a thought. Then again, maybe you just clicked the wrong article, since that Cleveland one is directly below this article.
MilwaukeeStrong
relax two hands.
try one for a change
ghostrobot
can he pitch the 9th LOL
jsaldi
Jansen is awful
Cheeseman Forever
“Interested”…”considering”…what a joke.
skyyalpha
I mean, it is MLB Trade Rumors, not MLB Trade Facts
amk1920
Jansen is done. 3 straight blown saves in a heated division race. What a joke. And Roberts is even worse. Managing to prove a point, not win the game.
mlbnyyfan
Jansen for Chapman both need a change of scenery.
Samuel
Chapman needs the sticky stuff to revive his curveball.
Don’t know about Jansen.
There are quite a few pitchers in MLB that are only beginning to become less effective. Quite a few more to come. A lesson for us fans.
fox471 Dave
I made a vow last year, after the Dodgers won the WS , that I would not bad mouth Roberts again. After 32 years, he was the only Dodger manager to take the team all the way. I have to admit though, it is getting HARD!
Samuel
Excellent write-up!
Hats off to Darragh McDonald.
LaFlamaBlanca
Broooo Halos need to be in on these type of arms. 3 decent bullpen arms and they can make a push.
oldmanblue
Jansen is done or should be.
nyy17 2
If it weren’t for the character assassination of Ian F Kennedy by Joe Girardi, he’d still be pitching in the Bronx.
pittsburghbob69
Pirates trade Dodgers RichRod for Ruiz.
I would rather Diego Cartaya but seems like Dodgers fans are super high on him. And he’s having a great season and gonna rise up the Top 100 prospect list!!
But Ruiz seems like he’s blocked by Will Smith and D.Cartaya coming up behind him.
Dodgers get a back-end bullpen arm, that misses bats, is cheap, and under control for 2 more seasons after this seasons.
kingsfan1968
Don’t pitch Kenley in back to back games or more than 4 outs in a game and he will be fine. Trade for Kimbrel and a couple of starters for depth
tsc32
Kennedy for Clayton Beeter and Andre Jackson