Los Angeles Angels Add Former World Series Champion to Mix

Aug 27, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Kenley Jansen (74) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels finished the 2024 season with a 63-99 record, keeping their streak of no 100-loss seasons in franchise history alive. This winter they have done everything possible to make sure that they don't even sniff 100 losses in 2025.

On top of additions like Jorge Soler, Yusei Kikuchi, Tim Anderson, and Yoán Moncada, the Angels have also added former World Series winning closer Kenley Jansen to the mix. Jansen, 37, has collected 447 saves in his career, ranking him fourth on the all-time leaderboard.

He needs just 31 saves to tie No. 3 on the list, Lee Smith, and 53 to reach the 500 mark. Catching Mariano Rivera (652) or Trevor Hoffman (601) seems pretty unlikely at this point, but they are also the only two relievers to rack up 500 or more saves in a career.

The reported deal is for one year at $10 million, and will see him take over the ninth inning. An old school manager like Ron Washington is likely giddy to have a proven arm to close things out like Jansen, who spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also has a ton of postseason experience, so if the Angels find themselves in contention, he would be a valuable piece to have.

If the Angels find themselves out of it around the trade deadline, then Jansen could be valuable as a trade piece, too.

In what is expected to be a tight American League, with just the New York Yankees being a standout team, an addition like Jansen could be enough to get the Angels into the mix, if they can stay relatively healthy.

As of right now, FanGraphs has both the A's and Angels pegged for 76-win seasons, and both clubs have a bit of upside that is hard to quantify in projections. The teams ahead of both of them in the AL West, the Texas Rangers (85 projected wins), Seattle Mariners (84), and Houston Astros (84) all look better on paper, but all three clubs have big question marks, too.

The Rangers projection includes 132 innings from Jacob deGrom, who has comined for just over 100 innings over the past three seasons. If he goes down and the bats don't rebound from a down year in 2024, then they could be right back to a mid-70 win campaign.

The Seattle Mariners need to add some offense to their otherworldly pitching staff, but keep refusing to make a splash. They finished with the No. 12 offense in baseball according to wRC+ (104), but they ranked No. 21 in runs scored with 676 and their run scoring seemed to come in waves. If they can put it all together, Seattle is a dangerous team, but they just don't seem to be getting the support from ownership that they need to take that next step.

Then there are the Houston Astros, who traded away outfielder Kyle Tucker and are currently without third baseman Alex Bregman. Those are two pretty big parts of their offense from their recent stretch of contending teams to be without, which could lead to a little less confidence in the club moving forward. Will we see the next wave of Astros baseball, or the beginning of the end in 2025?

All that is to say that both the A's and Angels have a shot to be in the chase for October if things break right for either of them, and/or if things go poorly for one of the clubs they're projected to be chasing. For the Angels, adding Jansen is a nice step in the right direction.