Kenley Jansen - Boston Red Sox
Jansen, like Treinen, will pitch the 2025 MLB season at age-37. Unlike Treinen, Jansen has a recent track record of being a full-time closer. He has played for three organizations over the last four seasons, but has been reliable at each stop.
Kenley Jansen | 2022-24 Statistics |
|---|---|
Appearances | 170 |
Innings Pitched | 163.1 |
ERA | 3.42 |
Record | 12-10 |
Saves | 97 |
Games Finished | 134 |
ERA+ | 126 |
FIP | 3.26 |
K | 199 |
BB | 59 |
HR | 17 |
Over the three-year stretch referenced above, Jansen's ERA (3.38, 3.63, 3.29), FIP (3.21, 3.66, 3.00) and ERA+ (122, 126, 130) have had little variation. Whoever signs him knows what they're going to get. That consistency is extremely valuable, especially as a ninth-inning option, and will help him earn a nice short-term payday.
Kirby Yates - Texas Rangers
If Jansen is a low-ceiling, high-floor option, Yates is his high-ceiling, low-floor counterpart. Yates has a pair of All-Star nods and top-10 Cy Young finishes in two of his past four full seasons. In those respective campaigns, his ERA (1.19, 1.17), FIP (1.30, 2.50) and ERA+ (354, 340) were off the charts.
The problem? Those seasons (2019 and 2024) were six years apart. From 2020-22, he appeared in only 15 games due to injury. Yates, who has had Tommy John surgery twice, will turn 38 years old less than a week before the 2025 season begins.
Kirby Yates, K'ing the Side in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/zGYjfjm1eT
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 6, 2024
Yates walks more batters (4.9 BB/9 from 2022-24) than you'd like. His home run rates (2.6 HR/9 in 2022, 1.3 HR/9 in 2023, 0.4 HR/9 in 2024) have drastically improved as he has distanced himself from his second Tommy John surgery. There may be no reliever with more upside in free agency than him.
All great potential rewards carry immense risk. Whatever franchise gives Yates an eight-figure salary feels just as likely to get 40 saves from him as they are to shelve him for the season. But any team looking to finally get over the hump - *cough* Phillies *cough* - could justify signing him.