Former Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen finds new home; who will close for Boston in 2025?
Kenley Jansen is heading back to Los Angeles.
The All-Star closer agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with the Angels on Tuesday, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The 37-year-old gives the Halos an experienced closer, signing on the eve of camps opening around the game.
With the addition of Jansen, the Angels can move flamethrower Ben Joyce into the setup role. Joyce is coming off an impressive rookie campaign where he posted a 2.08 ERA with four saves, 33 strikeouts to 14 walks over 34 2/3 frames (31 games).
Jansen wasn’t expected back in Boston after he finished his two-year, $32 million deal with the Red Sox. The future Hall of Fame closer finished the season appearing in 54 games while posting a 4-2 record with a 3.29 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings.
As camp begins for the Red Sox, the club does not have a closer, and there will be a handful of candidates vying for the 9th inning job. Boston has some in-house candidates that will get a chance to win the job during spring training, including Aroldis Chapman, Liam Hendriks, Justin Slaten, and even Garrett Whitlock.
“We have a number of guys who have pitched at the at the back end of games. Hendriks and Chapman, of course,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said to media at JetBlue Park on Tuesday. “But also, Slaten is a guy that I think deserves some consideration. Whitlock is someone who I think can be deployed as a real weapon, given his ability to throw multiple innings. Those could be multiple innings in a bridge-type role, or they could be multiple things at the back end of the game. Wilson is someone with a track record of pitching at the back end of games.
“As things stand today, I think there’ll be a level of competition that will be really productive. We’ve got guys with strong track records of being able to generate swings and misses at the back end of games.”
Hendriks is an obvious choice to pitch the ninth inning. He enters the 2025 season healthy after missing all of last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Hendriks was the A’s closer from 2019 to 2020, where he posted a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP, converting 29 saves over a two-year span. He would join the White Sox ahead of the 2021 season, where he posted back-to-back seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA and 30-plus saves in both 2021 and 2022.
When healthy, Hendriks is an effective strikeout reliever, ranking in the 97th percentile in strikeout rate in his last four seasons, according to Baseball Savant.
Chapman agreed to a one-year, $10.75 million deal, giving Boston a hard-throwing left-hander for the backend of the bullpen. The southpaw has 355 career saves under his belt and recently filled in the role of closer for the Pirates over the final two months of last season. The lefty finished the campaign with 14 saves and 98 strikeouts while posting a 3.79 ERA and 1.346 WHIP.
Slaten is an intriguing option after a successful rookie season, posting a 2.93 ERA, 2.61 FIP, and 1.01 WHIP with 58 strikeouts and two saves in 55 1/3 innings (44 games). The righty had a strong 25.9% strikeout rate, ranking him in the 72nd percentile of league arms, which was paired with an impressive 4.0% walk rate, which was in the 97th percentile on Baseball Savant. The only drawback to Slaten becoming the closer is his 2024 season is his only track record.
Slaten lived up to the expectations, and the Red Sox were rewarded for his impressive season. His pitch mix and results from last season paint the picture that he is up for the task of being the closer. Slaten has the makings to build upon last year, where he was a high-leverage reliever and could close in 2025.
“I think our focus is probably more on someone who has proven that they can finish it at the back end of the game,” Breslow said. “Someone that we can rely on in pleasure situations and hold these late-game leads.”
