BOSTON (AP) — The press conference with new Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen was almost over when 4-year-old Kyrian Jansen spoke off the side, “I have a question.”
He was handed a microphone.
He hesitated.
Finally he said, “Go to Boston.”
Jansen’s son is one of the few Red Sox fans excited about the team this winter following a last-place finish in 2022 and the departure of shortstop Xander Bogaerts as a free agent last week. The elder Jansen, a three-time All-Star, is Boston’s biggest signing so far this offseason.
“It’s all about winning here,” said Jansen, who led the NL with 41 saves for Atlanta last year after spending his first 12 seasons with the Dodgers. “It’s a wonderful place to pitch. The atmosphere, you see how intense the fans are, how much they understand, how hard they are for their team.”
But Jansen arrives in Boston at a time of near revolt among the fandom, which saw Bogaerts leave just three years after former AL MVP Mookie Betts was traded in the interest of financial flexibility.
Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said the fan reaction was no surprise.
“Fully expected. I totally expected it,” he said on a frigid Tuesday in a ballroom overlooking the field set up for Saturday’s Fenway Bowl football game. “That was no surprise. Frankly, I would have been surprised if that hadn’t been the case.”
Bloom stressed that there are several ways to build a ball club, and with Bogaerts gone, the team has necessarily turned its attention to his other weaknesses. The bullpen conceded the most earned points in the AL last season, and manager Alex Cora struggled to find a reliable finisher.
Jansen could be the solution.
The 35-year-old right-hander from Curaçao – a short distance from Bogaerts’ native Aruba – went 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 64 innings as he helped the Braves win the NL East. In his career, he has a 2.46 career ERA with 391 career saves – second among active players behind Craig Kimbrel’s 394, and eighth all-time.
The Red Sox have also signed right-handers Chris Martin and left-handers Joely Rodriguez, who could take some of the pressure off of holdovers like Matt Barnes and John Schreiber.
“(Jansen) has been doing his job for about as long as anyone else in the biggest stages,” Bloom said. “And that’s something that I think will help everyone on our staff.”
While the Red Sox still need a shortstop — or a second baseman, if Trevor Story moves to the right side of the infield — Bloom said hearing Jansen talk shows that other people around baseball are more optimistic about the team’s chances than the Boston fans.
“When he thinks of the Boston Red Sox, he thinks of an organization that’s here to win,” Bloom said. “There are seasons where we showed it very well; there are seasons where we don’t have that. But you know, every winter, every spring this organization gears up to try and win, and it really makes sense.
The Red Sox are responding pretty well to their restless fans: Despite their five fifth-place finishes in the past 11 years, they’ve also won two World Series in that span and four since 2004—more than any other baseball team.
“I would compare our organization and track record to anyone else in Major League Baseball, period,” said Red Sox president Sam Kennedy. “We are continuing to field a team, a complete roster that will be competitive in the American League East. That’s our job. We must. And I know our fans will support us when we do.”
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