The 2023 Boston Red Sox just like beating the New York Yankees. The Red Sox completed their second straight sweep on the Yankees this season, and now have an 8-1 record against them in their nine contests this year. Boston has once again revived their playoff hopes when they seemed extremely dim, and in the process, received more big performances from Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen.

The story of the Red Sox throughout the 2023 campaign has been one of exceeding expectations. While they are still three games out of the final American League wild card spot, nobody was really expecting this team to have a 66-58 record towards the end of August. And with just a few weeks left on the season, they still could conceivably find their way into the playoffs.

There have been a lot of guys responsible for their success this year, but two of them have been two of their more initially confusing free agent signings of the offseason. Instead, Turner and Jansen have gone on to be two of the most impactful signings of the entire offseason last year, and they will both play huge roles in what this team manages to accomplish over the final weeks of the season.

Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen continue to stand out for Red Sox

When Justin Turner was signed to a two-year, $21.7 million deal, and Kenley Jansen was signed to a two-year, $32 million deal, there was a bit of confusion and anger from Red Sox fans everywhere. Both Turner and Jansen are getting older (38 and 35, respectively), and had been showing signs of decline in their past few seasons. On paper, it didn't make a ton of sense.

Both have delivered time and again for the Sox throughout the season, though, making the oft-criticized Chaim Bloom look like a genius for once. Turner has had an awesome bounce-back season at the plate (.288 BA, 20 HR, 79 RBI, .844 OPS), while filling several holes in the field from time to time, while Jansen has proven to be the stabilizing force at the back of the bullpen that Boston had been missing for years (3-5, 2.83 ERA, 29 SV, 50 K, 1.21 WHIP).

The impact of both of these guys was on full display in their 6-5 win over the Yankees on Sunday afternoon to complete their sweep of their dreaded rival. Turner had a monster day at the plate (2-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI), driving in the final four runs of the day for the Red Sox, while Jansen came in and picked up the save (1 IP, 1 H, 2 K), despite allowing the first two runners aboard.

All throughout the year, these two guys have delivered for Boston. When Turner stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and one out in a 5-5 game, you knew he was going to find a way to bring in the runner from third, and he did just that with an RBI double. Jansen allowed the first two runners to reach base in the bottom of the ninth, but was not phased at all, as he quickly struck out Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres before getting Ben Rortvedt to fly out to center to end the game.

Beyond just their impact, it's important to consider what the Red Sox actually gained from passing up on their other options available in free agency. Many fans wanted the Sox to bring back their key core of free agents last offseason, but instead, they ended up letting Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Michael Wacha depart in free agency.

To this point, though, that hasn't really hurt Boston. Bogaerts is having the worst season of his career with the San Diego Padres (.265 BA, 13 HR, 42 RBI, 13 SB, .734 OPS), Martinez has run very hot or cold with the Los Angeles Dodgers (,256 BA, 25 HR, 78 RBI, .856 OPS), and Wacha has only made 16 starts for San Diego this year, although he's been great when he's pitched (9-2, 2.68 ERA, 78 K, 1.06 WHIP). The biggest loss was Eovaldi, who has been a legitimate Cy Young contender with the Texas Rangers (11-3, 2.69 ERA, 111 K, 1.01 WHIP).

Conventional baseball logic tells you have that having that quartet of players would have benefitted Boston more than the group they have, but when you add in Masataka Yoshida and Chris Martin alongside Turner and Jansen, both who have been fantastic finds themselves, the Red Sox somehow managed to improve their team by letting that group of free agents walk.

Turner and Jansen have managed to step up and be key leaders of this team in a fairly unexpected way, and without them, Boston would clearly not be in the spot they find themselves in currently. The Red Sox may ultimately not find their way into the playoffs, but regardless of what happens, they are better off as a result of having Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen on board this season, and with the way they have been playing, sneaking into the postseason is still very much of the table for this team.