Boston Red Sox owner John Henry said the team only has a 1-in-20 or 1-in-30 chance of winning the World Series in a recent interview with The Financial Times.
Now that word of those comments has filtered back to the Red Sox players, closer Kenley Janson is reacting, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com:
“Kenley Jansen: ‘We’ve got to make ourselves a winner. Hopefully, that put a fire under all of these guys in this clubhouse. Be pissed if you want to be pissed about a comment like that and use it to your advantage to be a winner.'”
During the offseason, the Red Sox took heavy criticism for their inability, or refusal, to add any high-dollar free agents that could have helped the team make a push toward the playoffs.
The Red Sox have still managed to play .500 baseball this season despite a rash of injuries to key players and a lack of significant free agent help. However, they remain far out of actual contention. Ironically, Jansen himself may find himself playing for another team shortly due to this fact.
Even before the season began, rumors swirled about Boston trading away the veteran closer. The 36-year-old was an All-Star last year — converting 29 of 33 save chances — but with a $16 million salary and an expiring contract, Jansen is unlikely to stay on a Red Sox team struggling to stay above .500.
Though his stuff is not what it once was, Kenley Jansen is still one of Major League Baseball's best closers. Jansen is second among active MLB players with 429 saves — just two behind Baltimore Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel. Since the start of 2022, the 36-year-old has converted 86.8% of his save chances while posting a 3.34 ERA.
Red Sox get slew of injury news ahead of series vs. Phillies, Yankees
Alex Cora looks like he is making fresh rotational calls after they split the series with the Chicago White Sox. For starters, Tyler O'Neill is back for their series against the Phillies. The Red Sox are going to have him as their DH such that he eases back into the rotation after he suffered soreness in his right knee.
The Red Sox are also calling Matsaka Yoshida back from the IL. He's usually slotted in as Alex Cora's DH. But the choice to get O'Neill back into the groove made it so that Yoshida will have to give that spot up in the meantime. Cora did outline that Yoshida is likely going to take over the DH spot at some point in this Phillies series or possibly after it when the Yankees come to town. However, they did make the bold call to not let him play as an outfielder just yet.
The biggest update is Wilyer Abreu's injury. Notably, Cora declared that the rookie might be able to come off the 10-day IL. But there is still not a strong feeling whether that will happen one way or the other.
The Red Sox next take on the Phillies on Wednesday.
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