Kenley Jansen's 1-year Angels contract makes no sense for veteran closer

Veteran closer Kenley Jansen has found a home for next season, signing a one-year, $10 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, in a move that was baffling for both sides.

It's baffling for the Angels for one primary reason: they don't need him. LA's bullpen was a bit of a mess last season overall, but the singular area where it was pretty consistently solid was at the back end. Yes, Carlos Estevez is gone, but Ben Joyce looked absolutely lights out in limited run as a closer, with his insane fastball that tops 100 miles per hour like it's nothing.

Jansen has never really been anything but a closer in his career; he's racked up at least 25 saves in every full-length season since 2012, and while he's dabbled outside the closer role in recent seasons, it's hard to see him doing the job in Los Angeles with Joyce already there. On a team with one of the strangest rosters in all of baseball, getting a guy like Jansen feels surplus to requirements.

If you're trying to build a team that will actually contend, why not splash the cash on someone like, I don't know, third baseman Alex Bregman, who will fill a real, tangible need?

But for as weird as the move is for the Angels, it's even weirder for Jansen. The 37-year-old is likely coming to the end of the road sooner than later, and the Angels could charitably be described as one of the messiest rosters in baseball. Will they be better than they were last year? It's impossible to say for sure, because the Angels appear to be cursed by the weirdest injury luck, and underperformance luck of any team in baseball.

They are not going to be contending for a World Series this year, and they probably won't be contending for the playoffs. If you're going to go to a team where you won't be in your preferred role, wouldn't you rather do that for a team that's hoping to contend?

It's not like Jansen doesn't still have value, even if he's not your full-time closer; he's a capable end-of-game arm, and has developed into a savvy veteran pitcher in the last couple seasons. Surely someone, anyone (like, maybe the bullpen starved Chicago Cubs?) could have used him somewhere in their bullpen.

Ultimately though, Jansen figures to be somewhat of a stabilizing force in the Angels' bullpen, which is more a testament to the state of everywhere that isn't a closer position than anything.

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