As the Angels sputter, this veteran's pristine start makes him a valuable trade asset

After a hot start to the season, nearly everything that can go wrong has for the Angels over the past two weeks as the team has come crashing back down to earth. The prolific home run barrage has ended as the bats have gone silent, the starting rotation has struggled, and the atrocious bullpen ranks 28th in the league with a 5.27 ERA.

However, one future Hall of Famer is having a pristine season in his quest to rise up the record books. When Kenley Jansen signed with the Angels on a one-year, $10 million deal, it seemed like an unlikely match at first. Now 37 years old, the once dominant closer no longer seemed to be at the peak of his powers, and seemingly would've preferred to go to a better team than the Angels who were coming off a franchise-worst 63-99 campaign in 2024, as he needs to rack up as many saves as he can in order to be immortalized in Cooperstown.

However, that's exactly why the match made sense. Jansen's strikeout rate has been declining for years while his ERA has been slowly rising, making contenders wary of adding him and handing him the closer role. The Angels, who looked to be much improved on paper, offered both a clear path to close out games as they made strides to field a more competitive product.

Whether or not the team can break the funk they're in and right the ship, only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: Jansen has been absolutely dominant this season. The veteran closer has not allowed a single earned run over eight appearances and eight innings of work. His 1.78 FIP is his best mark since 2017, a year in which he finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting.

The greater baseball landscape makes Angels' closer Kenley Jansen a potentially in-demand piece as the trade deadline approaches

Even if the Angels right some of their wrongs, this likely is not a contending team. The barometer of success for the Halos is simply playing competitive baseball and further developing their young core. A late 30s closer doesn't really fit in with that long-term plan.

Every true contender knows their October dreams will stall without stability at the back-end of the pen, which is something Jansen has proven he can provide. Across baseball, many contenders are watching their closers, some of whom own elite track records, falter.

Last season's AL Central champions, the Cleveland Guardians, have seen perhaps the league's (former) most dominant closer, Emmanuel Clase, post a 7.84 ERA through his first 11 outings. The New York Yankees have watched Devin Williams and his singular Airbender unravel, posting an 11.25 ERA that has baffled everyone so far.

Over in the National League, the Mets have watched as their once-fearsome closer Edwin Diaz has continued to struggle following his gruesome injury in the 2023 WBC, while the upstart San Francisco Giants have seen their closer, Ryan Walker, post a 6.52 ERA as they try and fight their way through a crowded NL West that might be the most challenging division in baseball.

If Jansen can continue his turn-back-the-clock performance, his suitors will be plentiful, and the Angels should be able to cash in big time at the trade deadline.

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