It seems like there’s nothing that’s been considered off limits for Craig Breslow in his first offseason on the job as the new chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox.
At least when it comes ‘resetting’ the club, particularly on the financial front, following the club’s second straight finish in the A.L. East’s basement.
In addition to essentially sitting out free agency, Breslow and the Sox moved Chris Sale off their roster and to the Atlanta Braves. They moved outfielder Alex Verdugo — and to the Yankees, no less —instead of paying him almost $9 million for the 2024 season (though there were certainly other reasons at play for that decision), and there’s been talk of trading outfielder Masataka Yoshida after just one year of a five-year, $90 million deal Yoshida signed with Boston in Dec. 2022.
And then there’s Kenley Jansen.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 20: Kenley Jansen #74 reacts with Connor Wong #12 of the Boston Red Sox after the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 20, 2023. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Last Thursday, MLB insider Jon Morosi appeared on MLB Network and confirmed that Breslow and the Red Sox were indeed involved in trade talks surrounding Jansen.
“I checked around in the industry in the last couple days to try to figure out just how real this story is and I was told the Red Sox are, in fact, listening on Jansen, but there has to be a second part of this,” Morosi said. “If you trade him, it’s not just to trade him. It’s because either Craig Breslow is trying to bring in multiples of pitching back to replenish the depth of the Red Sox or that by clearing some of Jansen’s salary, that they could potentially free up enough money to then make a play for one of the available free agents.”
Morosi went on to list the Dodgers and Phillies as two landing spots for Jansen. The Dodgers are familiar with Jansen thanks to his 12-year tenure with the club, and Jansen still calls Los Angeles home in the offseason. Philly, meanwhile, remain a win-now team in need of some serious bullpen help to push themselves over the hump.
Jul 26, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Kenley Jansen (74) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park. (Paul Rutherford/USA TODAY Sports)
‘Dodger Talk’ host David Vassegh backed up that report from Morosi, mentioning both the Phillies and Dodgers as teams with an interest in Jansen, but added that he was of the belief that the trade had to be done before the start of spring training or be reassessed at the 2024 trade deadline.
Baseball insider Jon Heyman also linked Jansen to the Dodgers last week, and even threw the San Diego Padres in there as a team that’s interested in the longtime N.L. West threat.
It feels just about everybody has had something on Jansen moving out of Boston, and it’s seemingly never been about the return as much as it’s been about the Red Sox clearing another $16 million off their books.
To Morosi’s point, getting Jansen’s salary off their books would seemingly allow the Red Sox to add a right-swinging outfield bat (the Sox have been linked to help on that front all offseason long) or one of the high-end starters still on the market, such as Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery.
