Red Sox Reportedly Pathways with the All-Star On sad event With ‘Several Teams Involved’ in signing him.
The Boston Red Sox are not done retooling their roster with just over a week until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Multiple reports have indicated that one of the Red Sox’s most accomplished players and lone All-Star from a year ago is being shopped around. Those discussions reportedly are ongoing.
“The Red Sox are talking to teams about Kenley Jansen and there are several teams involved right now,” the New York Post’s Jon Heyman said on a Bleacher Report livestream Tuesday afternoon.
Jansen posted a 3.63 ERA with a 52-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .237 batting average against and a 1.28 WHIP in 44 2/3 innings in his debut season in Boston. Most notably, he went 29-for-33 in save opportunities.
The 36-year-old veteran is owed $16 million this season, the final year of his deal with the Red Sox. For that reason, he’s the most logical trade candidate. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow seemingly agrees.
Heyman noted last week, as have others, that the Los Angeles Dodgers would be a likely landing spot for Jansen. That would be ideal given their rich farm system that is full of pitching prospects.
The Dodgers have 13 pitchers in their top 30 according to MLB Pipeline, 11 of which fall outside the top 100 range.
If the Red Sox are going to move Jansen, there better be a bigger move coming. The motive for the trade would center around shaving payroll, which ideally would open up the door for a player such as left-hander Jordan Montgomery to sign with the Red Sox.
At the Boston Red Sox Winter Weekend in Jan. 2023, baseball content producer and noted Red Sox aficionado Jared Carrabis had a simple question for principal owner John Henry and club president and CEO Sam Kennedy: “This is something that I’ve come across a lot on Twitter and social media – fans asking, because there is a portfolio here with different interests – are the Red Sox still a top priority?”
Asked point blank, Henry had an opportunity to unequivocally reaffirm his commitment to the franchise amidst the expansion of Fenway Sports Group. FSG’s most noteworthy subsidiaries include Liverpool F.C. and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and last week FSG closed a $3 billion investment deal with the PGA Tour. It should have been a softball question.
Despite making a sarcastic gesture to check his watch, Henry couldn’t be bothered to give Carrabis the time of day and instead left Kennedy to answer the entirety of the question. Well, recent reporting regarding former general manager Theo Epstein’s return to Boston has given credence to what Carrabis, and so many other Red Sox fans have passionately felt for years.
