Red Sox in Reliever Crisis Mode! Kenley Jansen’s Exist Forces Team to Scramble for Solutions
The Boston Red Sox will officially have a new closer in 2025.
While no one internally or externally seemed to think Kenley Jansen would be back in Boston this year, he still hadn’t signed anywhere new until Tuesday. Now that he has a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, the question becomes whether the Red Sox already consider him replaced.
As things currently stand, the closer role appears to be down to some combination of Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Slaten, and Garrett Whitlock. There’s a lot to sift through as spring training begins, but one more bullpen addition would be a worthwhile objective.
With the Red Sox continuing to juggle their pursuit of a reliever with the chases for Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado, which names might they be keeping in mind on the bullpen market?
On Tuesday, Red Sox insider Chris Cotillo of MassLive named five potential targets for the Red Sox to ponder, including three remaining free agents and two All-Star trade candidates.
“The free-agent market is largely picked over but Kyle Finnegan, David Robertson and even (Craig) Kimbrel remain,” Cotillo wrote. “The trade market offers strong options like St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley and San Diego’s Robert Suárez, who might not last in their respective camps long.”
“Even after signing Chapman and Wilson to a group that’ll also feature a healthy Hendriks for the first time in a Red Sox uniform, (Chief Baseball Officer Craig) Breslow seems to want more.”
Cotillo also quoted Breslow directly regarding his views on adding to the bullpen.
“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 (pressure) situations and hold these late game leads.”
There are clearly some options listed above that Red Sox fans would be more excited about than others. Someone like Helsley, who led all of baseball in saves last season, could likely have a more positive impact than someone like Kimbrel, who was released by the Baltimore Orioles in September.
But to some degree, beggars can’t be choosers. The Red Sox would make a lot of fans more comfortable if they simply added one more arm, for depth if nothing else.
