(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
   Agreement Kenley Jansen with Los Angeles Angels confirmed
Nederlands
  ANAHEIM, California / TEMPE, Arizona (USA) -
Veteran closer Kenley Jansen will take the mound this season for Los Angeles Angels.
On Tuesday (February 11), several sources already reported that the active leader in saves had come to terms with the club on an one-year contract.
On Saturday (February 15), the agreement was officially confirmed after the righthanded pitcher had passed a physical.
On that day, Curaçao-born Jansen also joined his new teammates in Tempe, Arizona, where the club has its Spring Training-complex and where preparations for the new season began a few days ago.
The 37-year old Jansen has signed a 10 million dollar, one-year contract.
In the past two years, Jansen played for Boston Red Sox, but he was a Free Agent after last season.
Last year, Jansen appeared in 54 games and was 4-2 with 27 saves in 31 opportunities.
He struckout 62 batters in 54 2/3 inning.
In his long and successful 15-year career, that began in 2010, Jansen struckout 1,221 batters in 868 1/3 inning, while walking only 263.
Overall, he is 49-36 with an impressive 0.58 ERA.
Jansen led the National League in saves in 2017 and 2022, both seasons with 41.
Kenley Jansen is the active leader in saves with 447.
Following him on the list is Craig Kimbrel with 440, but he is still a Free Agent at the moment after having played for Baltimore Orioles last year.
Behind these two is Aroldis Chapman, who has 335.
The Cuban also was a Free Agent, but he signed with Boston Red Sox in December.
Last year, Chapman played for Pittsburgh Pirates.
...Kenley Jansen with the Netherlands...
...Team during the 2017...
...World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
On the All-Time List, Jansen is preceeded by only three other closers, who all have been elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Mariano Rivera, who played his entire 19-year career (1995-2013) for New York Yankees, is the All-Time Leader with 652 saves.
Trevor Hoffman is second with 601.
He played in 18 seasons (1993-2010) for Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers.
Lee Smith is third on the list with 478.
He also played in 18 Major League-seasons and pitched for eight different teams: Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels, Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.
Hoffman was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2018, Rivera and Smith both in 2019.
With his 447 saves, Jansen is 31 behind Smith and has a chance to become the third pitcher in history with 500 saves.
Jansen also is the active leader with 871 appearances.
By signing a contract with Los Angeles Angels, Jansen returns to the area where he has played the most seasons in his career.
In 2010-2021, Jansen played his first twelve seasons for Los Angeles Dodgers.
He then played for Atlanta Braves in 2022 and since 2023, he pitched for Boston Red Sox, where had signed a 2-year contract, worth 32 million dollars.
Los Angeles Angels plays in Anaheim, which is part of the Greater Los Angeles-area, and plays its home-games (since 1966) in Angel Stadium, close to Disneyland, which is on walking distance.
In the past, the club played as California Angels (1965-1996), Anaheim Angels (1997-2004) and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2005-2015).
Since 2015, the name is Los Angeles Angels, which also was the club'st original name in 1961-1965.
In those years, the club played in Los Angeles and shared Dodger Stadium with Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962-1965.
Kenley Jansen initially was an infielder/outfielder when he started playing baseball on Curaçao, but then became a catcher.
In 2009, he made his professional debut as catcher, but during that Minor League-season, he was converted into a pitcher and then made his Major League-debut in 2010 as pitcher.
In 2012, Jansen became the prime closer for Los Angeles Dodgers.
During the 2016 season, the righthander became the all-time save-leader of the club when he earned his 162nd save, taking over the record from Éric Gagné.
In the 2017 season, Jansen set a MLB-record by striking out 51 batters without walking one.
The old record was 35.
And during the 2021 season, his last with the Dodgers, he became the twelfth reliever with 1,000 strikeouts.
In his twelve seasons with Los Angeles, Jansen earned 350 saves.
Jansen was selected for the All-Star Game four times (2016, 2017, 2018, 2023) and was named Reliever of the Year in the National League twice (2016, 2017).
In 2009, Kenley Jansen made his debut in the Netherlands Baseball Team as a catcher and then participated in the World Baseball Classic.
Later in the year, Jansen again played for the Orange Team, but now as pitcher, during the World Championship, with the final rounds being organized in the Netherlands and Italy.
Jansen also was with the Netherlands Team during the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and 2017 when he was added to the team for the Semi-Finals.
He then only appeared in the 2017 Semi-Final against Puerto Rico, striking out two batters in the ninth inning.
The Netherlands lost the game in the eleventh inning.
(February 15)
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