"Impact of Tigers adding veteran closer Jansen on bullpen structure."

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00:00Okay, so the Detroit Tigers are making a serious move to revamp their bullpen for 2026, and

00:07for the first time in the A.J. Hinch era, they're bringing in a true veteran closer.

00:11They just announced a one-year $9 million deal with four-time all-star Kenley Jansen,

00:16a 16-year veteran.

00:19The contract includes a club option for 2027 worth $12 million, with a $2 million buyout.

00:26Now let's talk about Jansen's resume.

00:28At 38 years old, he leads all active major leaguers with 476 saves, that's just two saves,

00:36shy of Lee Smith for third place on the all-time MLB list, think about this consistency,

00:42he's recorded at least 25 saves in 13 consecutive full seasons, not counting the shortened 2020

00:48year.

00:49Tigers president Scott Harris called him, one of the best to ever do it, praising his experience

00:55and success in high leverage moments, both in the regular season and the post-season.

01:01This past season with the Angels was a career resurgence, he had 29 saves, while his 24.4%

01:08strikeout rate was a career low, his 0.95 whip was his best, since 2017, the year he led the

01:16NL with 41 saves, and finished fifth in Cy Young voting.

01:21His signature cutter, once the nastiest pitch in the game of war was highly effective again

01:26last season, batters hit just 164 against it with a .238 Woba, even though its whiff rate

01:32was a career low 25.2%.

01:34Here's a wild twist, the Tigers actually saw Jansen at his lowest point last year, on May the

01:40second, at Angel, Stadium, they tagged him for six runs in one inning, including back-to-back

01:45homers from Riley Green and Colt Keith, but look at his resilience, he came back the very

01:50next day to save the game, retiring Green and Keith.

01:54From that point on, he posted a 1.97 ERA, and from June 24th, to the season's end, a dominant

02:021.11 ERA, and a 0.65 whip.

02:06Harris pointed out that Jansen's cutter velocity ticked up as the year went on, and he was truly

02:12dominant down the stretch, which made him very appealing for the back end of the Tigers'

02:16pen.

02:17This is interesting, because under Hinch, the Tigers haven't used a traditional established

02:22closer, he prefers using his best relievers in the biggest spots, regardless of the inning.

02:27Last year, Will Vest led the team with 23 saves, but five other guys recorded saves, including

02:32nine from Tommy Conley, the Tigers just re-signed Kyle Finnegan, who got four saves after coming

02:38over at the trade deadline.

02:39So, adding Jansen sets up a modified bullpen, they can still mix, and match situationally

02:45for the first eight innings, but now they have the most veteran closer Hinch has ever

02:49managed to potentially hand the ball to in the ninth.

02:52But here's the key question from Harris.

02:54Will we label Kenley the closer?

02:56I don't know, that's gonna be for AJ to figure out.

03:00Before signing him, they connected Jansen with Hinch, and Jansen said he's all about winning,

03:05and willing to pitch in any spot, which was a huge selling point.

03:09Historically, the Tigers have had mixed results with veteran closers.

03:13Todd Jones had 93 saves, from 2006-2008.

03:17Jose Valverde saved 119 games in four years, including a team record 49 in 2011.

03:24Joe Nathan had 35 saves in 2014, but with a high ERA, Francisco Rodriguez had 44 saves

03:30in 2016.

03:32So, what's your take?

03:33It's a one-tease bringing in a future Hall of Famer like Kenley Jansen, even at this stage

03:40of his career, the final piece the Tigers' bullpen needs to become elite, or is this a

03:44move that relies too much on past reputation?

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