Kenley Janssen can return to using “”California's love“As his walk-out music.
Janssen agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract with the Angels on Tuesday as spring training began throughout the sport this week. As John Heyman in the post first reported.
The 37-year-old returned to Southern California after spending two years in Boston.
Janssen was one of the best free agents left while players report this week to Florida and Arizona.
The right-hander went 4-2 with the 3.29 ERA last season, recording 27 saves for the Red Sox, entering his 16th season as the sport's active save leader with 447, the fourth-most in MLB history.
He'll have the opportunity to hand over Lee Smith (478 saves) to third place, which will require the Angels to be more competitive than in recent years.
The Angels went 63-99, finishing in Alwest's final spot last season, marking nine consecutive season finishes under .500.
They have not won 80 games since 2018.
The Los Angeles offseason was focused on adding veterans, so this year doesn't look much of a promising experience.
Jorge Soller, Kyle Hendrix, Yusei Kikuchi, Scott Kingery and Travis D'Arnaud are newcomers and are participating in the cores that Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon realistically need to be healthy and productive .
Fangraphs predicts Angels to finish 75-87.
One of the built-in bonuses for this acquisition is that the Angels could essentially buy leads if things go south, as bailers are always in high demand for trade deadlines.
Janssen posted an ERA of 2.37 and notched 350 saves during his 2010-21 Dodgers time. He then recorded a 3.38 ERA and a 3.44 mark for the Red Sox in his one season with the Braves.
Although he is not a flamethrower from his youth, Janssen still averaged strikeouts of 10.5 and 10.2 per nine innings, respectively, over his last two seasons.
