9:45am: It’s a one-year, $10MM deal for Jansen, reports the Post’s Joel Sherman.
9:36am: The Angels have agreed to a deal with free agent reliever Kenley Jansen, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Wasserman client will step into the closer’s role and give manager Ron Washington an established option in the ninth inning.
The 37-year-old Jansen is coming off yet another fine season of closing, having finished 38 games and tallied 27 saves for the 2024 Red Sox. He notched a 3.29 earned run average, fanned 28.4% of his opponents and posted a 9.2% walk rate in 54 2/3 frames during the second of his two years in Boston.
Those 27 saves pushed him up to 447 in his career, placing him fourth all-time behind Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith. Jansen isn’t going to run down Rivera (652) and Hoffman (601), but he’s 31 saves behind Smith’s 478 — a number that seems plenty attainable, perhaps even this year. Craig Kimbrel and his 440 saves aren’t far behind, but after last season’s struggles, it’s an open question whether Kimbrel will find his way back to regular closing work this year. Jansen, meanwhile, seems like a lock to serve as the Angels’ primary closer. He reportedly drew interest from other clubs with set ninth-inning options, including the Mets, but preferred to sign in a spot that afforded him more save opportunities.
Jansen isn’t the near-automatic ninth-inning powerhouse he was earlier in his career with the Dodgers, but he’s still sporting a 3.42 ERA over the past three seasons and has never turned in a single-season ERA worse than the 3.71 he logged during 2019’s juiced-ball campaign.
The 92.2 mph Jansen averaged on his cutter last year is right in line with his average mark from 2018-23, when he posted a combined 3.45 ERA and fanned just over 30% of his opponents. He allowed a career-high level of contact within the strike zone, but his 82.6% rate in that regard was still nearly three percentage points better than average — and Jansen still induced whiffs on pitches off the plate at a strong rate.
Even though Jansen isn’t an elite reliever anymore, he’s a very good one who should help to deepen a Halos bullpen that lacked experience. Lefties Brock Burke, Jose Quijada and Jose Suarez all have four-plus years of MLB service. No other Angels reliever had even two years of service, prior to today’s agreement with Jansen.
Flamethrowing righty Ben Joyce, MLB’s hardest-throwing pitcher, had been slated for closing duties with the Angels. He’ll now drop down to a setup role that allows him to gain some more experience while giving Washington the flexibility to use his most dynamic arm in the highest-leverage situations a game presents (without feeling tempted to “save” him for the ninth inning). Joyce, a 2022 third-rounder, averaged a comical 102.1 mph on his four-seamer last year and has run the pitch up to 105 mph at times.
As a rookie in 2023, Joyce walked nearly 19% of his opponents in a small sample of 10 innings. He made significant gains in 2024, pitching 34 2/3 big league innings with a 2.08 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Joyce piled up grounders at a massive 58.9% clip and tallied four saves and eight holds. His 13.7% swinging-strike rate and unmatched velocity suggest there are more strikeouts in the tank as he continues to develop.
Jansen, Joyce and that previously mentioned trio of lefties will now anchor the Angel bullpen. Ryan Zeferjahn put himself in good position to win a spot this spring with a terrific 17-inning debut in 2024, but he’ll need to solidify that job during camp.
There’s a good chance the Angels will continue shopping in the relief market. They’ve reportedly been on the hunt for multiple bullpen arms, so they still feel there’s at least one spot that could yet be filled. It’s unlikely that any subsequent additions will be on the same eight-figure scale as Jansen, unless the Angels opt to double down on high-end, late-30s relievers and make a push for David Robertson. Regardless, general manager Perry Minasian should have the budget available to pursue just about any bullpen help he likes.
As things stand, the Angels project for a payroll just north of $202MM with roughly $220MM of luxury obligations, per RosterResource. That leaves them more than $10MM shy of the franchise record for Opening Day cash payroll and about $21MM shy of the $241MM luxury tax threshold.
Seventeenth!
Nope. You underestimated your prowess.
Good signing. The division is winnable, but he’ll also be a solid trade option at the deadline if they’re not in the race.
“The division is winnable”
Yeah but not for the Halos.
The only way the division is even remotely winnable for the Halos is if someone follows Mike Trout all season with duct tape and gorilla glue. That dude needs to stay off the IL for any remote chance of the playoffs.
He typically made Sox fans bite their nails the last two seasons and the way he left, good riddance. Also, a closer’s ERA should be well below 3.00 if you’re elite.
ERA is more important for starters. He’s obviously not elite anymore, but still good enough to pitch high leverage innings and close.
He’s a prima donna well past his sell date.
Well, at least he’s back in LA.
Yeah, but how many save opportunities is he going to get with the Angels?
more than if he’d signed with all those other teams that already have a good 9th inning guy! 😀
Bryan Harvey once got 46 saves on a 81-81 Angels team.
Plenty. Bad teams usually have more save opportunities than elite ones.
He can have a good year and sign with a good team nxt year like Estevez did. Oh, wait. He’s older than dirt.
Well, at least he’s back in the LA metro area.
Fixed….
Well, close to it anyways.
He needs 32 saves to pass Lee Smith. Guess he’ll have to get 30 of those when he’s traded at the deadline.
* Anaheim
He is not. He’s not even in Los Angeles County. The team name was changed just for marketing purposes. It’s why I hope they lose and they have done plenty of that. They signed king Albert who is probably two years older than is reported. Josh Hamilton was a bust. They didn’t trade ohtani even though they could have gotten a good haul for him. As long as they screw up, I am happy.
That’s really sad.
Pathetic if you ask me
Two Mendy’s!!!!
Not a bad signing by any team. Good for Jansen. Not sure if it makes a bit of a difference for the Angels’ winning prospects…
@trillionaire. They will win prospects at the deadline for him.
Single A prospects that will never make a difference.
You might want to look at the return they got for Carlos Estevez last trade deadline…
@dutch. Or the four prospects Boston gave up for garcia. Zeferjahn was one of the reasons why the bullpen was one of the best after the deadline.
A young pitcher who has already had Tommy John Surgery? lol
Walker Buehler’s 2018-2021 seasons have entered the chat
And now he’s an injury prone journeyman signing 1 year deals.
Who hasn’t had Tommy John surgery these days?
Solid move by the Angels. I wonder who they trade him to in July?
Interesting how Jansen made the All-Star Game last year in what was arguably the worst of his last 6 seasons.
Base – You’re looking at the wrong year. He made the All-Star Game in 2023, not last year.
And yeah he wasn’t that great in 2023, but they needed someone from the Red Sox to be an All-Star and he was a logical choice.
Yeah, I meant to say 2023 (still have 2024 as the current season in my head).
He had a decent year in 2023. It just struck me as interesting though, that was the only ASG appearance for him in the past 6 seasons and it happened to be his worst season in that time period.
base – Keep in mind the MLB All-Star Game is played in July, which means pitchers are named to the team in early July. So all you need to make the team is to have a good start to the season, which is why ASG appearances are kinda meaningless.
Kenley made the team because in the first half he was dominant with 19 saves and a 3.23 ERA in 31 innings.
After the ASG he suffered from nagging injuries and he was bad with only 10 saves and a 4.50 ERA in only 14 innings.
Yes, I do know that. Just an interesting fact that what was his worst season in the past 6 years was his lone ASG. Funny how that can happen.
It was ‘23. The Red Sox had no one else to send!
I’m not excited about this signing especially if the plan is to slot him into the closer role.
Old – That’s not an “if”, that’s a definite.
He has career Save goals that are very important to him, which is why he turned down offers elsewhere to be a setup guy.
I wish him all the best.
“I’m comfortable if we go into the season with Ben Joyce as the closer,” manager Ron Washington said.
That was 9 days ago.
Base – In defense of Ron, he didn’t lie.
He said “if we go into the season with Ben Joyce as the closer” ….. nowhere does he indicate that Ben will be the closer.
Ben Joyce is the closer, Jansen is set up and insurance in case Joyce misses time or can’t pitch
SoCal – Not a chance. If Jansen is healthy and available to pitch, he’s the closer.
@fpg. Yeah he’s the closer til the deadline, and Stephenson should be back.
With the added benefit of keeping Joyce’s upcoming arb costs down. Fewer saves = cheaper
@rexhudler. Once Stephenson is back, there is a good chance this bullpen is suddenly one of the Angels strengths.
Agreed. Joyce has a great fastball but he doesn’t miss bats and can’t stay healthy. He’s not the closer, but he’s still a quality bullpen guy.
Not a bad move; a way of Wash easing Joyce into the closer role.
And let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves and already expecting to deal Jansen before the trade deadline. Pitchers and catchers are just about to report. A little time to experience the hope of spring (however short it may be) is not such an awful approach. There’s plenty of time for it to be dashed to pieces.
@61angels. I see it exactly the same way. I doubt the Angels are signing these guys thinking, oh we have trade chips for later in the season.
If the Angels aren’t in contention for even a wild card spot, that means most of these “trade chips” have under performed and really not worth a heck of a lot in trade value.
In theory it is fun to think about, but I can’t see getting anyone that moves the needle in return.
That being said……..I am excited for spring training this year. The Angels have some great internal competitions to watch.
dam – Kenley can also provide HOF-level mentoring to Joyce, that’s something the kid will utilize for the rest of his career.
@fpg. Plus he never did back 2 back days in his career. They started to do it towards the end of season, but I’m sure they will have some kind of workload restriction to ease him in.
@angelsfan1972. Pecota has them projected at 76 wins. Kenley should be able to get something decent. Zeferjahn for garcia looks good so far. I thought it was a quantity over quality trade. Plus lugo could be decent he was rated the highest in the deal. I’m just in the camp trade any expiring contracts for what you get. But agree if the angels are close arte will probably put perry on a trading freeze.
@rexhudler. I agree with trade what you can if they are out of contention. I am just saying I don’t agree with saying the Angels will a lot of trade bait, should they want to make trades at the dead line.
If they are out of contention, that means many of “the trade chips” people are referring to, have under performed, and won’t bring as much as people are implying.
Rex – Yeah most likely he will be flipped.
Rex – Great point, makes sense.
Did you watch Joyce pitch in the 2nd half? He added a new sinker grip in July and after that he was basically unhittable. He had an 0.83 ERA and a 41% whiff rate from late July through September after a 23% whiff rate the early part of the season. When players did make contact it was on the ground. 64.3% GB rate after the ASB. He was an elite RP the last 2 months.
The only knock on him is he has not yet shown he can grind out 60 appearances. Last season he had 49 between Rocket City and LA.
No manager would keep a HOF’r from his stats. He signed for the saves.
Nice. We need a veteran in the bullpen to lead the young guys. One who is active in the community is a huge plus.
Exactly!
Great signing.
I love that the Angels have gone after “been there, done that” kind of guys this off season. Help teach the younger players!.
I can’t wait to see who all chimes in hating this signing. There’s the complaints that the Angels need more relievers. I am sure someone will say “he’s too old” or he isn’t elite. Blah blah blah
It is a good signing. And their approach does kinda remind me of what the Royals did last year. Ya know, going after the “”been there, done that” kind of guys…””.
One difference; the anchor they r building around is old and struggles staying on the fields (Trout). The Royals anchor is young and healthy (Witt). Will see.
Best of luck Coach Washington.
@ C Yards I don’t think they are building around Trout. I think they are building around the young core, Neto, Schanuel, O’hoppe, and dare I say it , Adell. They also have a young core of pitchers, so it isn’t building around older vets, like Trout.
Okay, but the interesting thing is that Trout will still be under contract after Neto, Schanuel, O’Hoppe, and Adell have all left in free agency.
Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know what the future brings. but I doubt all 4 of those all will have left to free agency, possibly 2, but not all 4.
I still feel they are building around the young core.
It is just like Anthony Davis and the Mavs. No one can wish these guys into not getting hurt. Trout is going to get hurt this year. Its just how many times and when?
Oh you poor dear. Im so sorry they’ve hurt you.
@halosheavenjj. Now sign Graveman to a minor league deal.
@rexhedler That would be another nice one.
Great signing if you had a time machine and went back to 2012. Instead it’s a typical Angels dumpster dive for mediocrity.
While he’s no longer in his prime, he’s still a good pitcher, not mediocre at all unless his decline phase takes a really sharp dive this year.
A clubhouse like that can benefit from someone who has actually been on good teams. They don’t have to look to Trout now.
Pete Rose is innocent Fry Ohtani
You’re so negative you should try to be more respectful. You’re so angry. I hope everything is OK at home.
Johnny, why are your legs so skinny for having such a robust torso?
That has been concerning me at home. So, no it’s not ok. Please elevate my concerns.
Love this pick up
Not bad
about time angels make a great signing !!!
They made a great signing with d’Arnaud as well. Going to miss him on the Braves
Jansen has faced alot of adversity in his career. Hopefully he can stay healthy all year, take turns closing with Joyce, be a good Clubhouse presence and share some of his knowledge with the young team, similar to how Estévez was last year! This team has a lot to prove, and show the hunger to win. They need to shut up all the talking trash about the Angels that they are not a joke.
At least it’s an opportunity to continue Closing. How many chances he actually gets is another thing entirely…
He’s not closing in Anaheim unless Ben Joyce is hurt.
Well, with how he throws at 104mph, it’s when.
Joyce doesn’t miss bats and is not particularly good at throwing strikes.
He does keep the ball on the ground.
Joyce won’t be the closer.
I hear what you are saying, but Joyce grew a lot as a pitcher last year. I would hope he grows even more this year, and the missed bats issue goes away.
I disagree that Joyce can’t be a quality close someday. I think he has the tools to become one.
0.83 ERA from the time he learned new sinker grip to end of season. Elite whiff rate and elite GB rate in those last 13 appearances. Joyce will be the Angels closer soon. Its only a matter of time. Paying Jansen $10 million to close when their rotation is in tatters is confusing. Are the signing Heaney and Quintana in next couple of days? If not, no reason for the expenditure on Jansen.
He’ll end up closing. You don’t sign a guy with 400+ saves to pitch the 7th…
You also don’t pay a set-up man $10 mil….
Jansen ain’t signing with the Angels unless he’s guaranteed the closer job. Otherwise, he wudda signed with a contender….
Yep, he’s closing. No matter how much it hurts my last draft-and-hold fantasy team where I took Joyce, lol
No idea what my dbacks are doing for a closer
Puk and Martinez are decent. Maybe they can hold off until the deadline and acquire a Helsley or someone else (perhaps even Jansen) if/when teams look to 26
Puk is to valuable to only have in the 9th, Martinez had so many inconsistent moments. I think getting a veteran to help ease them is the bwst choice. Maybe they get Finnegan or Robertson
Ginkel or Puk, maybe?
Might go down two of the rarest surnames in MLB history to record 30+ saves in a season.
Go down *as*
Puk is more valuable in whatever inning has the power Lefties. Ginkel looked bad last year and is bettwr in the 8th. I think just a veteran would be perfect. Maybe Robertson.
I for one had Jansen as a possibility, but now I am thinking maybe the D’Backs are going to look to the trade market for sure, depending how the ST pitching works out, don’t see Martinez or Puk but maybe outside the box you are looking at Drey Jameson, I remember Hazen said awhile back that Jameson in the future could be a closer candidate until his TJ surgery.
desertdawg
I agree that Jameson might be the answer so why block him?
The only trade the Dbacks should consider is for a young closer with multiple years, like Miller. The Cards closer is just another 1 year rental at the sacrifice of way too much prospect potential. I’d only trade prospect potential for Closers with multiple years of control.
Taker
I’m actually glad the Dbacks didn’t spend another $10M on a 1 year deal for a guy who is not a clear upgrade over Martinez or Ginkel, the right handers, but instead blocks their development.
Will take several yrs
But Jansen is HOFer
agreed. nearly 450 saves (and counting) and a career whip under 1. i feel like he’s a little bit underrated
This signing is such an Angels move.
Ben Joyce TJ already?
Nope, he’s healthy. Just signing experienced bullpen arms.
I guess it won’t hurt Ben Joyce to sit under his learning tree for a year.
Good for Kenley!
Dude is still a viable closer, he’s a great addition for the Angels. He’s definitely on his way to 500 saves.
He’s still 53 away. Certainly possible, but at this stage in his career it’s hardly a given. Hope he makes it, though.
Well, he’ll probably get a LOT of opportunities on the halos.
Not a bad move by Angels, if he stays healthy and productive. Come around July 31st he could bring some value in a return. Solid B grade move.
Well maybe the Halos will be competitive this year?
More like Jansen is a great addition to bring in more prospects at the trade deadline. They desperately need to rebuild their farm system.
It’s a typical move for them: make a half-hearted attempt at being competitive then, once that predictability doesn’t work out, they’ll trade him.
It’s a great move by the Angels. Joyce doesn’t miss bats, and can’t stay healthy.
However, if Joyce doesn’t stay healthy, Stephenson comes back, and Jansen doesn’t take a step back, the back end of this pen could be very good.
@halo11fan. He was missing bats when he cameback with a splinker. It’s possible teams might’ve enough tape to figure him out.
Still wouldn’t mind adding graveman on a minor league deal. Been out with TJ for two years, that’s around the time frame to recover fully. I don’t want quijada or saurez in the pen.
Rex, i don’t see that in the data. He’s a strikeout an inning guy. Nothing wrong with that, nothing special either.
I’m thrilled with him in the bullpen. But more for his ability to keep the ball on the ground and his soft contact numbers than his ability to miss bats.
@Halo11
I have said it before, put down the spread sheets and enjoy the game. LOL
Not everything is defined by Fanfgraphs or Statcast.
Ha ha ha.
Just giving you are hard time. Welcome back. I missed our differing point of views.
I do enjoy the game, and everything is defined on a stat cast page. 99 loses is on a statistics page.
And knowing the peripherals helps me enjoy the game. And if the peripherals are good, I know the results will generally follow. If they are bad, then failure will generally follow.
If you don’t see it in the data it’s because you don’t know how to look at it. 41% whiff rate in August and September. Started throwing that new sinker in last appearance of July and has 0.83 ERA with 64% GB rate from that point on.
The problem is, you don’t know the peripherals. You looked at annual stats and missed what happened in the games in the 2nd half.
Did I?
June 11IP 10Ks
July 11IP 9Ks
Aug 10IP 11Ks
Sept 2 IP 3Ks.
Rexhudler86 – My memory of Joyce is that he improved both his missed bats and walks after his first couple of appearances. I have not seen the numbers for 24, but at very least he has been developing very quickly for someone that has very few minor league or even college or high school experience.
I like Quijada by the way, He has that ghost ability where the best hitters cannot square him up like Freeman and Ohtani. Reminds me of Ernesto Frieri.
@tim Stewart. That’s why I didn’t respond. Early in the season. He wasn’t missing at bats because they were sitting on his fastball. He needed another pitch. He was lights out after he started to use his sinker. Halo11fan doesn’t like Joyce. He said it was a bad pick by perry my guess is he’s going to change his tune.
“My Memory”
Without looking at a spreadsheet, a human being is incapable of discerning the difference of a 255 vs 280 by observation alone. That’s 1 hit every two weeks.
I don’t pay much stock to even the most ardent baseball fans ability to analyze performance without backing it up with data.
Jansen could be to Joyce, what Percy was to KRod. A seasoned vet to help teach the youngsters how to handle both good and bad situations. A lot of people are only concerned with the bad, but over reacting to a good situation could be just as detrimental. Jansen has been in the league long enough and had to go from team to team, I am sure he is well equipped to be a good secondary coach.
Arte has finally seen that light that pitching can help win ballgames and sell tickets too.
Congrats Angels fans!
Maybe they’ll start playing “California Love” when he comes into games again.
It’s going to be odd to watch him in an Angels uniform.
But this is a great signing for both of them. He is chasing down 500 saves. He won’t get there this season, but he’ll have the opportunity to close. Angels get a veteran guy to help mentor their young bullpen and ease the burden. He’s also a tradeable chip (when the Angels are eventually out of it).
$10 million is a second-division closer? Inflation is rough.
But who’s gonna play 3B?
@psycho. I am sure you’re “being funny” ,but I will reply.
3b is an open competition for about 4-7 players this spring. The Angels will be just fine there.
I doubt the Angels will be fine at any infield position. Every infielder has huge warts.
Neto is coming off shoulder surgery, had a 10 percent rage factor, and I’m not sold on him.
But there are enough bodies to fill a team. But I have no idea what this infield will look like May 1st.
They have enough depth. They will be fine
U believe Halos will have someone at 3B who will give at least average MLB production? Interesting take.
The article speaks to lack of experience in the bullpen, but forgot to consider that they also have Robert Stevenson who is projected to be activated in May. If Hendricks or Anderson don’t deliver I can see Dana or Kochanawicz taking that 5th spot and one of them in the bullpen. The Jansen addition was definitely needed.
Spending money just to spend money at this point.
Spending money to make games more enjoyable is not spending money for the sake of spending money.
Nothing breaks a teams moral faster, or causes fans to lose sleep, than having a bad back of the bullpen.
As far as saves are concerned, bad teams get almost as many opportunities as good teams.
Trade deadline call- straight from Moneyball: “get Dave Dombrowski on the line…”
Not gunna have a plethora of save opps with Anaheim. Tho, prolly the best gig he could get…
Angels could have a pretty solid season. Wins in the mid 70’s maybe? Even though I’m a Mariners fan, I’m praying for Mike Trout. That guy has had a rough go of things. I’d like to see him healthy, and stay that way. I’d like to see Rendon do better as well.
Game over
I like it. Going with Joyce would’ve been fine, but using Joyce as the setup behind a reliable Jansen also works. He broke down in September the past two years, but has otherwise been pretty reliable.
This one is baffling. Why? How many close games with a lead will the Angels be in this year? Why spend on a closer when the rotation is bad?
Is Jansen the Jimmy Butler of the MLB?
I’m a Dodgers fan living in OC. I hope he gets a shot at 500 this year, and I hope it’s at home. I’ll for sure be at that game if he does.
@derall I hope he gets it against the Dodgers!
August 11.12 or 13th.
If he is close around those dates, the stadium would be packed!.
That would be pretty wild, wouldn’t it? Unlike most Dodgers fans, I’m a pretty big Angels fan too. The Angels didn’t have Vin Scully when I was growing up.
The Angels didn’t have the longevity of Vin Scully, but they have their fair share of “game callers”. Dick Enberg, Dave Niehaus, Rory Markus and Terry Smith.
Terry Smith is getting right up there with the greats, in my opinion.
Nope
Don Wells in the beginning .
Last minute 6 for 2 Blockbuster between the Angels and Phillies in coming? The Delaware Valley is encapsulated in joy right now, with a parade down Broad Street scheduled for this Friday. Mike Trout will be there and I think they’re going to convince him to stay.
Angels acquire:
Taijuan Walker RHP (2/37)
Johan Rojas CF (pre arb)
Michael Mercado RHP (#18)
Mick Abel RHP (#6)
Otto Kemp 2B (#21)
Jared Thomas C (#45)
Phillies acquire:
Mike Trout (6/218)
Ben Joyce (pre arb)
Walker offsets some of Trout’s contract and gives the Angels their #5 starter. Joyce gets an opportunity to close in Philly. Angels get long term salary relief and everybody is happy. Including everyone in MLB, or anyone that loves the game. To see Trout actually play meaningful games in the post season.
@ac. They won’t trade Joyce, and trout doesn’t want to leave
They already have five #5 starters. They need a 1-4 to mix in there.
Hopefully he can play well enough to get some type of meaningful return at the deadline.
All the help Mike trouts gonna get. SMH
Hopefully Kenley can play right field and break a 700 OPS. Otherwise, he’s useless to this team.
This doesn’t stink.
Remember the 02 angels
That was a fun team to watch.
Yes, 23 years ago, Scott Spezio and Brad Fulmer killed it.
“The bright side is that you’ll get home from the games a lot faster from Anaheim than you would from Dodger Stadium.” Kenley’s Agent
ChiSox or Angels?
10 million lmao! Another gross overpay for a has-been. Well, overpaying mediocre names is the only way Arte can get players to come play on the sinking garbage barge that is the Angels.
He is a turd. Left the Sox before end of year. So get ready Angel fans when are you eliminated on Sept 2 he will bounce to rest his achy back. Guys a clown well unless he is close to getting those saves he could hang out.
A 37 y.o. pitcher with name recognition and some following in So. Cal.? Of course the Angels signed him.