Kenley Jansen isn’t bustling with joy at spring training in Fort Meyers, Fla., as he prepares for his second season as the Boston Red Sox closer.
“I just have to have the mindset that I need to get ready regardless, right?” Jansen told the Boston Globe on Wednesday. “So all the buzz that’s going on around me, all that stuff, it’s not time for me to focus on it.”
Jansen has been the subject of trade rumors that he hopes would bring him to a team with postseason aspirations.
The 36-year-old helped the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series and has a career 2.20 postseason ERA in 65 1/3 innings.
There has been some noise that the Dodgers could re-acquire Jansen, but those trade talks are likely to continue into the season.
Boston is projected to finish last in the AL East having torn down its roster, and Jansen being one of the few remaining pieces of a once-win-now movement.
“The vision then, the vision now is totally different,” Jansen said of his decision to sign with the Red Sox ahead of last season. “But I can’t question myself, man. There is frustration because you have other options, but I think playing in Boston and being in Fenway is special, and I always wanted to experience that.”
Jansen appeared in 51 games as a member of the Red Sox in a disappointing 78-84 last-place season.
He seems to have some buyer’s remorse with the two-year, $32 million contract he signed.
Lefty veteran Chris Sale was traded to Atlanta in a shocking move, while fellow veterans Justin Turner and James Paxton departed in free agency.
This year’s spring training roster is littered with young, unproven talent that the front office hopes will get Boston to a place where they can compete but for less money.
“Understanding that some other teams have bigger payrolls — not saying more talent, for you to be in the big leagues you got to have some kind of talent — but with more established players on other rosters, these guys are young and have to believe in themselves now,” Jansen said.
The Boston Globe notes that Jansen could be moved in a trade for a prospect or two to help shed some of the $16 million Jansen is owed this season.
The team also brought in another late leverage arm, Liam Hendriks, further complicating Jansen’s role on the current roster.
But that trade isn’t expected to happen until the season starts and potentially could happen around the trade deadline.
“It is tough,” he said. “We’ll see how the season starts.”
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March 01, 2024 at 02:35AM
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Kenley Jansen sounds miserable waiting for Red Sox to trade him - New York Post
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