There have been reports coming out over the last 24 hours that the Boston Red Sox are open to trade talks with their relievers, with Kenley Jansen being a name that has been rumored, so if the Red Sox decide to trade their closer from 2023, who is a free agent following the end of this coming season who could they turn to, to close out games for them in 2023?
Kenley Jansen
Jansen 2023 made 51 appearances for the Red Sox as he went 3-6 with 29 saves; he had a 3.63 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 44.2 innings of work and picked up his 400th save this season. He has made 817 appearances in his career, going 45-34 with 420 saves; he has a 2.52 ERA and 1,159 strikeouts in 813.2 innings of work between the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and Red Sox.
Three Closer Options
Chris Martin
Martin had his best season for the Red Sox in 2023, making 55 appearances, going 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA, a 2.44 FIP, a 1.03 WHIP, 46 strikeouts in 51.1 innings, and had three saves. In his career, he has appeared in 324 games, going 13-17 with a 3.36 ERA with 307 strikeouts in 302.1 innings of work with 12 saves. He has pitched for the Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Red Sox.
Tanner Houck
Houck has gone back and forth for the Red Sox between the bullpen and starting rotation. In 2023, when he was healthy, he spent his whole season in the rotation, making 21 starts, going 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA; he had a 4.43 FIP, a 1.36 WHIP, and 99 strikeouts in 106 innings of work. For his career, he has made 74 appearances with 41 as starts, he is 15-19 with a 3.86 ERA and 263 strikeouts in 252 innings of work, and he has nine saves, eight of those coming in 2022.
Garrett Whitlock
Whitlock, like Houck, had spent time between the bullpen and the starting rotation, especially in 2023 when he made 22 appearances, with ten of those as starts going 5-5 with a 5.15 ERA, a 4.27 FIP, a 1.32 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts in 71.2 innings of work and he had one save. In his career, he has made 99 appearances, with 19 of them as starts going 17-11 with a 3.51 ERA and 235 strikeouts in 223.1 innings of work, and he has nine career saves.
Wrap Up:
The Boston Red Sox have a lot of needs that they have yet to address, particularly the starting rotation, which currently is Chris Sale, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Tanner Houck, who could be the closer in 2024. The expectation is they’ll sign two starters. They have reportedly been interested in bringing back James Paxton and adding Lucas Giolito, which would not sit well with Red Sox fans if those guys were brought in. It’ll be interesting to see what they do over the next couple of months to get this team back to the postseason, but as 2023 is coming to an end, there are a lot of question marks on this team that need to be addressed.
