{"id":2649,"date":"2016-12-19T00:16:31","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T05:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=2649"},"modified":"2017-06-20T09:51:40","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T13:51:40","slug":"kenley-jansen-shows-dodgers-rare-loyalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2016\/12\/19\/kenley-jansen-shows-dodgers-rare-loyalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenley Jansen Shows Dodgers Rare Loyalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The biggest moves the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/strong> could have made this year didn\u2019t involve looking outside their organization. Instead of trading prospects for a big name star, the Dodgers opted to keep their free agents in place. One of those free agents represented their elite\u00a0major league closer, which has become a very rare commodity. This deal wasn\u2019t all on the front office, however. A huge reason this deal got done is\u00a0Kenley Jansen<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s commitment to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Kenley Jansen Shows Dodgers Rare Loyalty<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Jansen could have easily snubbed the Dodgers. Last winter, the Dodgers almost did exactly that – they almost snubbed him. At the 2015 Winter Meetings<\/strong>, the Dodgers were going to trade for\u00a0Aroldis Chapman<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Had that acquisition gone through, Jansen likely would have been moved into a setup man or middle inning relief role. After a domestic violence incident with Chapman\u2019s name written all over it, the Dodgers backed out of the deal with Cincinnat<\/strong>i Reds<\/strong>. This allowed Jansen to carry on his usual role as the closer and more. In 2016, Jansen finished third in the National League<\/strong> in saves, appeared in seven games in the postseason in 11.2 innings, and ultimately won the\u00a0Trevor Hoffman<\/a><\/strong> National League Reliever of The Year Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jansen is still receiving his pay day, but could have been taking in more. Even though he had an offer on the table for\u00a0$80 million from the Miami Marlins<\/strong><\/a>, and had spoken to other teams like the Washington Nationals<\/strong>,\u00a0Jansen opted to let the team who\u00a0converted him to a pitcher<\/a>\u00a0from a catcher match it and make him the second highest paid free agent reliever in Major League Baseball<\/strong> history. This came\u00a0after Chapman, the guy the Dodgers were eyeing over a year ago, set the record for free-agent relief pitcher<\/a> salary a few days prior with the New York Yankees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As more\u00a0details have come out<\/a>\u00a0about Kenley\u2019s contract and what other teams offered, it has become clear that Jansen didn\u2019t want to just focus on the money. Quite the opposite, in fact, from a certain situation for which one doesn\u2019t have to look too far back, when the Dodgers lost out Zack Greinke<\/a><\/strong> to the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/strong>\u00a0the previous offseason. Greinke clearly went for the money, with no guarantee that the Diamondbacks would turn into a postseason team any time soon. Jansen in his prime,\u00a0however, decided not to follow Greinke’s course.<\/p>\n

Jansen will likely have a player option to take another look\u00a0at free agency in a couple years. If he does take an option and leaves, but continues to pitch as well as he has until then, Kenley Jansen will solidify himself as one of the true organizational players in Dodgers history.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n