While the Detroit Tigers still are listening to offers for Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, the team reinforced its bullpen Saturday by agreeing with veteran All-Star closer Kenley Jansen to a one-year contract with a club option.
Jansen, who saved 29 games in 30 opportunities last season for the Los Angeles Angels, will receive $11 million, $1 million more than a year ago.
The right-hander gives the Tigers a dynamic 1-2 punch ater the Tigers re-signed Kyle Finnegan to a two-year, $29 million contract earlier in the week.
Jansen, 38, has 476 career saves and could become only the third reliever in baseball history to save 500 games, accomplished only by Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. Jansen has saved at least 25 games in 13 of his past 14 seasons, including a career-high 47 games in 2016 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This will be Jansen’s fifth team in six years after spending 12 years with the Dodgers.
The Tigers, who still are unlikely to trade Skubal but will continue to listen, now would like to add another starter behind No. 2 Jack Flaherty.
The Tigers, 87-75, who blew a huge AL Central lead with a historic collapse, still reached the postseason as a wild-card team and beat the division champion Cleveland Guardians in the first round. They got to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in a decade, and still are seeking their first World Series championship since 1984.
Now, with a strong bullpen – and if they can land one more starter to go with Skubal – the Tigers could have their best shot since the days when Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer headed their star-studded rotation.