Mariners FA Target: Kenley Jansen as a veteran in the bullpen

I want to pose a trivia question about closers to you. Do you know who led the National League in saves this year? Why, the answer would be longtime Dodgers closer and the new closer from the Braves, Kenley Jansen, who notched 41 saves in 48 opportunities.

Although this was his 13th season and the 34-year-old was on a new team, he still showed that he was easily capable of holding down the backend of a bullpen as the closer. A 3.38 ERA, a 3.21 FIP, and 12 K/9 kept opponents guessing all year.

The Mariners should look to Kenley Jansen if they want a “real” closer

The Mariners are one of the teams in baseball that don’t have the old-school version of a closer. They aren’t a team that is going to send out their 9th-inning guy regardless of who is coming up. One of the best things, normally, about Scott Servais is how he puts the best pitcher in for the matchup that he is faced with. If that means his best pitcher needs to come in during the 7th to shut down a rally, he’s going to do it.

The Mariners are also lucky in the sense that they have a lot of dominant relievers. They had a ton of pitchers that could come in and shut down nearly anyone. After the trade for Teoscar Hernandez, they are one guy short in the bullpen with the departure of Erik Swanson.

If, and to me this is a big if, Scott Servais wants to send the same guy out in the 9th inning no matter what, then it’s hard to find a better available option as opposed to Kenley Jansen. Outside of 2020 (the shortened year) Jensen has had between 33 and 47 saves every season since 2014 while averaging about 40 saves per season.

I think this comes down to how you feel about the ‘closer’ position. If you want to send the same guy out there every day, then you try and add Jansen to the team. You’d have Munoz-Sewald-Jansen to finish out every game, and still be able to sprinkle in Matt Brash, Castillo, and Murfee. That’s straight-up nasty. However, it’s not also going to be cheap.

If you want a certified closer, you sign Kenley Jansen to a 2YR/$27 million contract

It would give the Mariners a lot of the best RHP arms in baseball, while leaving them a little worse for wear against LHB without a true shutdown guy against them. However, Jansen is a monster, and could set them up well for the playoffs, should the Mariners get there again in 2023.