Kenley Jansen Agrees to Terms with Tigers: Reports
Free agent closer and likely future Hall of Famer Kenley Jansen, has agreed to terms with the Detroit Tigers pending a physical, according to reports. According to multiple reports, Jansen will sign a one-year contract with a club option for 2027. The club has not confirmed the deal as of press time.
Jansen, 38, is entering his 17th season in the league. The Tigers will be his fifth major-league team. Previously, Jansen pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Angels, chronologically. He spent 12 seasons with the Dodgers, where he made three All-Star teams. Additionally, Jansen pitched for three NL pennant winners and one World Series champion (2020). After leaving the Dodgers following the 2021 season, he pitched one season for the Braves — leading the NL with 41 saves — and two for the Red Sox, where he was a 2023 AL All Star. He is the active leader in saves with 476, three shy of passing Hall of Famer Lee Smith for third all-time. Jansen is also 24 shy of joining Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in the 500 Save Club.
What the Tigers Get in Jansen
Despite closing for the last-place, 72-win Angels in 2025, Jansen had a strong season. His 29 saves meant that he saved more than one third of the Angels’ wins — 40%, specifically. Across 62 games and 59 innings, Jansen had 52 scoreless outings (ER only, 83.9%). This was not only 11.7 percentage points better than the AL average (72.5%) but also marked an eight percentage-point improvement from 2024. Additionally, he struck out 57 of the 234 batters he faced, walked 19, and yielded eight homers. This gave him a 24.4 K%, 8.1 BB%, 16.2 K–BB%, and 3.4 HR%. For reference, the AL averages were 22.5 K%, 8.5 BB%, 14.0 K–BB%, and 3.2 HR%. Jansen also had 32 Goose Eggs vs. 6 Broken Eggs, a 5.3 GE/BE ratio (AL average: 3.2). He converted 29 saves in 30 chances (97%), well above the AL average of 62%. Finally, his 0.966 WHIP was 316 points better than the 1.282 AL average.
Looking Ahead
The financial terms of Jansen’s deal were not yet known as of press time. Spotrac.com, for reference, predicted a $13.664 million average annual value (AAV) for Jansen. His signing leaves Shawn Armstrong (AL #2) and Pete Fairbanks (AL #12) as the free-agent closers still available.
Jansen joins a loaded back end of the ‘pen with the Tigers. The Tigers ended 2025 with Will Vest (AL #7) and Kyle Finnegan (AL #11) as co-closers. Vest is entering his first year of arbitration, meaning the Tigers have three more years of team control over him. Spotrac.com estimates his 2026 salary to be around $3 million. Finnegan, who agreed to a two-year contract with the Tigers Tuesday, will make $9.5 million in both 2026 and 2027. Sport Relay could not confirm the roles of the trio. However, Jansen is close to career milestones in saves — still the holy grail of reliever stats in the eyes of major league clubs. Consequently, one would assume Jansen will close, with Vest and Finnegan setting him up.
