Dodgers aren't talking extension with Kenley Jansen -- but they should
For the past four seasons, Kenley Jansen has been "the guy" at the back end of the Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen.
He's racked up 133 of his 142 career saves from 2012 through 2015, and has amassed 528 strikeouts in 340 innings (a 14.0 K/9 ratio) and a 2.28 ERA during his career.
His 0.78 WHIP last season was the best of his career, and though his K/9 ratio was down slightly (13.8 in 2015 compared to 13.9 in 2014) he still exhibited a nearly-unhittable cutter on most nights.
And yet, after agreeing to a one-year, $10.65 million deal for the 2016 campaign, Jansen has yet to be approached by the team regarding an extension.
Why, then, aren't the Dodgers (at least publicly) talking extension with Jansen? They tried to trade for Aroldis Chapman earlier in the offseason, only to have his alleged domestic issues derail the deal.
For a few days, things were tense regarding Jansen. After all, if the Dodgers had acquired Chapman, what would that mean for Jansen? Both are proven closers, if that phrase has any meaning left in today's sabermetric, analytics-based MLB landscape.
Speaking with MLB.com's Ken Gurnick, Jansen said he wasn't bitter about that whole situation:
And therein lies the issue with Jansen: Do Friedman, Farhan Zaidi and the Dodgers' brain trust really value the concept of a closer at this point? To that end, would they really be interested, then, in paying a premium price to keep Jansen in town?
Jansen is 28 and has had a few nagging injuries over the past couple of seasons, but he is still among the most reliable right-handed relievers in the game.
Despite the lack of conversation about a long-term extension, Jansen is hoping to leave all this noise behind and focus on his on-field duties for the upcoming season. As he told Gurnick:
The Dodgers don't shy away from handing out lucrative contracts to pitchers with risks (see: Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson, Scott Kazmir), so why not do the same with Jansen, who doesn't necessarily have as much of a risk attached to him?
That's the question surrounding this issue at the moment, and will be one to watch.
