Kenley Jansen Reveals He’s Open to Reunion With Dodgers in Free Agency
The Los Angeles Dodgers offseason is likely close to complete once the latest signings of Roki Sasaki and Tanner Scott become official. However, that doesn’t mean current free agents don’t still want to join the defending champions.
On Monday, TMZ Sports spoke to former longtime Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who was coming back to his home in Los Angeles.
Jansen was asked if he could return to the Dodgers in free agency.
“You never know,” Jansen said. “I’m a free agent, so we’ll see where it goes.”
More news: What’s Next for the Dodgers Following Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott Signings?
He was then asked if he would say yes to the Dodgers if they called him.
“I’m ready to play, man,” Jansen said. “I’m ready to play, wherever it is.”
Jansen signed with the Dodgers back in 2004 and was with the organization until 2021. He began his tenure with the team as a catcher, but ended up transitioning to becoming a pitcher, and quickly turned into one of the best relievers in baseball.
Across his 12 seasons with the Dodgers, Jansen accumulated 350 saves, which is by far the most in franchise history. He had a 2.37 ERA and was a part of tons of winning teams, including the 2020 World Series champions.
After the 2021 season, Jansen hit free agency, where he ended up signing with the Atlanta Braves. He then spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Boston Red Sox.
Now, the 37-year-old Jansen is a free agent again, and is still looking to continue his playing career.
Last year, Jansen had a 3.29 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 27 saves across 54.2 innings. He was an All-Star as recently as 2023, which was his first All-Star appearance since he made three straight with the Dodgers from 2016-18.
With the Dodgers’ recent addition of Scott, it’s hard to imagine the team making another major bullpen addition. However, the Dodgers have learned more than anyone that a team can truly never have enough depth, especially on the pitching side.
Towards the end of the 90-second long interview, Jansen was asked if he thought what the Dodgers were doing was unfair.
“It’s not unfair,” Jansen said. “They want to compete. They want to win the World Series — they want to win another one — and it’s good for them.”
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
More news: Teoscar Hernández ‘Praying to God’ Dodgers Bring Kiké Hernández Back in Free Agency
No not in this life maybe the next jansen is done we can’t have him blow games again
I can think of worse things. He had a decent year last year, not great, but not bad. His 27 saves were more than any Dodger had last year. Boston wasn’t great so he might have had a few more on a good team. But he probably wants decent money and the D’s are so far over budget it’s crazy, let alone their 1B in deferred payroll. But if they could pick him up for say 5M, perhaps incentives, I can see it. Compare him to Joe Kelly. I like Mariachi Joe, but I’d much rather have Kenley on the mound in the 9th. Yeah, he’s probably past his peak, but might still have enough to make a contribution.
Where does he fit? The Dodgers are HEAVY in pitching and KJ is older and susceptible to injury. Will he ride the IL off and on throughout the season? Use him once a week or so? I don’t see him being used to close. Treinen and Vesia, Banda are setup…
Dodgers are heavy on pitching, but how much time on the DL are they going to spend? Regardless of the reason, Dodgers pitchers seem to spend more time than average on it. Kenley has actually been pretty healthy over his career, except for that heart thing a few years ago of course.
Jansen ranked 12th in saves in MLB last year on a .500 team. A better team and he would have been in the top 10 easy. Now Father Time could catch up with him any day now I admit, but so could a career ending injury happen to a guy 10 years younger.
But at the end of the day they’re not going to sign him anyway, so we’re just bantering back and forth. He’ll want too much money for one thing.