(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
   Closer Kenley Jansen signs with Detroit Tigers
Nederlands
 DETROIT, Michigan (USA) -
Kenley Jansen, who leads all active Major League-pitchers in saves, will be the closer for Detroit Tigers in 2026.
On Saturday (December 13), several sources reported that Jansen and Detroit had reached an agreement on an one-year contract, but that was not yet confirmed, due to a pending physical.
But today (Wednesday, December 17), Detroit Tigers confirmed the deal.
The club announced that the contract is worth nine million dollars and includes a $12 million option for 2027.
This season, Kenley Jansen played for Los Angeles Angels, with whom he had signed an one-year contract in February.
The 38-year old Curaçao-born Jansen appeared in 62 games, 47 of them as closer.
In 59 innings, he struckout 57 batters, walked 19 and earned 29 saves.
After completion of the season, Jansen was a Free Agent, as his contract had ended.
In his long and successful 16-year career, that began in 2010, Jansen struckout 1,278 batters in 927 1/3 inning, while walking only 282.
Overall, he is 54-40 with a 2.57 ERA.
Jansen led the National League in saves in 2017 and 2022, both seasons with 41.
As mentioned, Kenley Jansen is the active leader in saves.
In 2026, the righthander will begin the season with 476 saves, only two behind Lee Smith, who is third on the All-Time List with 478.
Smith 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.
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.
Rivera (2019), Hoffman (2018) and Smith (2019) all have been elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
...Kenley Jansen with the Netherlands...
...Team during the 2017...
...World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Following Jansen in the top-10 on the All-Time List is only one other active player.
That is followed Craig Kimbrel, who is in fifth place with 440 saves.
In 2025, Kimbrel pitched in only 14 games, one with Atlanta Braves, 13 with Houston Astros.
He closed in five of these games, but didn't earn a save.
In March, Kimbrel had signed a Minor League-contract with Atlanta and appeared in 18 games in Double-A and Triple-A combined, before being added to the big league-team on June 6.
He then pitched in the evening (one inning), but was designated for assignment the next day.
A day after having become Free Agent (June 10), Kimbrel signed a Minor League-contract with Texas Rangers.
He pitched in 24 Triple-A games, but was released on August 21.
The next day, he signed with Houston, with whom he complete the season.
At the moment, Kimbrel has no club yet for 2026.
Rounding out the top-10 are Francisco Rodriguez (437), John Franco (424), Billy Wagner (422), Dennis Eckersley (390) and Joe Nathan (377).
The next active player on the list is Aroldis Chapman (Boston Red Sox), who has 367 saves and shares twelfth place.
In 2010-2021, Jansen played his first twelve seasons for Los Angeles Dodgers.
He then played for Atlanta Braves in 2022.
The next two seasons (2023-2024), he pitched for Boston Red Sox, where had signed a 2-year contract, worth 32 million dollars.
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.
Kenley Jansen will be the fifh player with a passport from the Netherlands to play for Detroit Tigers.
The first was Curaçao-born first baseman Randall Simon, who played in 211 games for Detroit in 2001-2002.
The next one was outfielder Gene Kingsale from Aruba.
He played in 39 games in 2003.
In 2007, pitcher Jair Jurrjens (Curaçao) appeared in seven games.
The most games in a Detroit-uniform were played by second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who also came from Curaçao.
He played in 386 games in 2020-2023.
There is one more player with a Dutch background.
In 1909-1910, Amsterdam-born pitcher Bill Lelivelt played in five games for Detroit.
Lelivelt grew up in the USA.
(December 17)
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