Kenley Jansen has been the subject of trade speculation for a large portion of the offseason. With the Red Sox’s payroll seemingly pushing against ownership’s spending limit, there’s sense in looking to move the four-time All-Star closer.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe wrote this evening that the Sox remain in contact with other teams about a possible Jansen trade before Opening Day.
He isn’t the only Boston reliever who could find himself on the move. MassLive’s Christopher Smith reports that the Sox have also expressed to other clubs they’re willing to field offers on right-handers Chris Martin and John Schreiber.
Of that trio, Jansen probably has the lowest trade value. That’s more a reflection of his contract than an indictment of his performance. Jansen is set for a $16M salary in the second season of the two-year free agent deal which he signed last winter. That’s a lofty price tag — especially at a point in the offseason in which many teams could be near their own payroll ceilings — but he remains a very effective late-game arm.
Jansen locked down 29 of 33 save opportunities a year ago. He led the National League with 41 saves for the Braves two seasons back. He has allowed between three and four earned runs per nine in each of the past two seasons, including a 3.63 mark over 44 2/3 innings for Boston.
While that is the second-highest ERA of his excellent career, it remains better than average. That’s also the case for last season’s 27.7% strikeout rate, a personal low that nevertheless topped the league mark for relievers by four percentage points. The 36-year-old found some extra life on his trademark cutter. Jansen averaged 94.3 mph on the pitch, his highest velocity since 2014.
If Boston wanted to maximize the prospect return, they could offer to pay down some portion of Jansen’s salary. That’s a strategy they took in the Chris Sale deal, sending $17M to the Braves to convince Atlanta to relinquish Vaughn Grissom. Smith reports that they’re less keen to do so with Jansen, writing that they’ve been reluctant to include cash to facilitate a trade.
That wouldn’t be as significant an obstacle regarding Martin (and certainly not with Schreiber). The former, like Jansen, signed a two-year free agent deal last offseason.
While Jansen had a solid first season at Fenway Park, Martin was downright excellent. He turned in a microscopic 1.05 ERA over 51 1/3 innings. His 23.1% strikeout rate was solid and he kept the ball on the ground at a 51% clip.
Martin continues to boast perhaps the best control of any reliever in the game. He walked just 4% of opponents a year ago and hasn’t handed out free passes at even a 5% rate in any of the last six seasons.
Boston owes Martin a $7.5M salary for the upcoming campaign. He’s also set to receive the final $1.5M of a $4M signing bonus in June. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, that’s a little below the $9M-11M annual salaries secured this offseason by high-end setup relievers like Robert Stephenson, Héctor Neris, Jordan Hicks and Reynaldo López (the final two of whom will compete for rotation spots).
Martin turns 38 in June, but the one-year commitment minimizes long-term downside. His fastball averaged 95.7 mph last season, right in line with where it has sat throughout his career.
Schreiber, who turns 30 next month, is in a different spot contractually. He’s under arbitration control for three seasons. He and the Sox agreed to a modest $1.175M salary for the upcoming campaign. The righty was a revelation two years ago, turning in a 2.22 ERA while fanning nearly 29% of opponents.
His ’23 campaign wasn’t quite as impressive. Schreiber missed two months early in the year with a teres major strain in his throwing shoulder. He returned in July but worked with sightly diminished velocity relative to the prior season.
In 46 2/3 frames, he turned in a 3.86 ERA. Schreiber punched out a solid 26% of opponents, although his walk rate spiked from 7.4% to an alarming 12.3% clip. While his low arm angle remained a very tough look for right-handed hitters, lefty batters teed off for a .300/.456/.533 line in 79 plate appearances.
Moving Schrieber certainly wouldn’t be about finances. Considering offers on him (or Martin, to a lesser extent) seems more of a broad openness by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and the front office to consider opportunities that could balance the roster.
Boston is still looking for right-handed hitting outfield help and could use additional certainty out of the rotation.
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