The problems that led the Detroit Tigers to the decision not to bring Kenley Jansen back are clearly known.
In the 50 games in which Jansen pitched as a reliever, the Tigers finished with a 31-19 record, with the most losses in his entire career, falling below even seasons such as 2019, when he recorded eight blown saves as the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jansen was the main face of a bullpen that ended up collapsing with 31 blown saves, the most in franchise history, breaking the record of 28 set in 2004 and 2008, respectively. But that was only one part of the difficulties Jansen went through to establish himself. He finished with the seventh-best fWAR (0.3) among Detroit relievers this year —Drew Sommers was a revelation and led the team with 0.8—, in addition to recording the highest home run-to-fly ball rate of his career since 2019 (11.5%, compared to 13.2% that year) and the second-worst xFIP (4.48) among relievers who recorded a minimum of 20 innings, behind only another closer who finished with a disappointing performance, Kyle Finnegan (5.02).
Additionally, Jansen went through many difficulties in high-pressure situations, in which he allowed a .714 OPS to opposing hitters and six of the seven home runs he allowed, four of them walk-offs.
When it comes to stability, there are few closers who have demonstrated durability and consistency in recent seasons, exactly what Detroit’s bullpen needs to be able to establish itself. Raisel Iglesias has been one of those pitchers and his track record supports him, as he leads the Major Leagues with 130 saves since 2023, with an 89% success rate and only 16 blown saves.
Iglesias just finished the 2026 season with 34 saves in 59 relief appearances, a 2.55 ERA and a 3.45 xFIP, clearing up some doubts about his decline in performance in 2025, when he finished with a 3.21 ERA, the highest of his career since 2019. Iglesias has saved 34 games in two of his last three seasons (2024 and 2026) and has six of his nine seasons with at least 30 saves since becoming the full-time closer for the Cincinnati Reds in 2017. He was also able to adapt to another job, as he did in the 2022 season with the Braves, when he became Jansen’s setup man and recorded 15 holds with 17 saves in the 21 save opportunities he received.
Although he has never been the type of closer characterized by high velocity, Iglesias has stood out for years for his good control and the combination of his three main weapons to finish off opponents: his changeup, slider and four-seam fastball. In 2026, he finished in the 74th percentile in Pitching and his offspeed was once again elite, placing in the 80th percentile after a drop to 29th last year. His pitches have also continued to generate chases and whiffs at a high level, ending the year in the 99th and 82nd percentiles, respectively.
However, two of his main problems remain in controlling hard contact, especially against his four-seam fastball and sinker, two pitches that had a concerning decline compared to last year. Iglesias finished with +2 Run Value with his four-seamer, but opponents increased their Hard Hit% rate from 39.1% to 47.1%, which resulted in more dangerous hits as xSLG rose from .311 to .412. The sinker’s regression was worse, since it does not usually generate many whiffs and, when it stays in the strike zone, hitters usually take advantage of it more freely. In 2026, the .494 xSLG Iglesias allowed with his sinker was the highest among all his pitches, bringing difficult situations as happened to him in 2018 and 2019, when he finished allowing .604 and .586, respectively.
Iglesias will turn 37 in January 2027 and we know how much risk that represents, so it is reasonable to expect him to receive offers that do not go beyond two seasons. His market value has been estimated in several projections with an AAV of $13-15 million, and Steamer projections predict that his xFIP will improve next season to 3.34, basically because of an interesting reduction in his walk rate and improvements in strikeouts, despite the home run rate possibly exceeding 10% again.
With Iglesias as the closer, Detroit’s bullpen should gain stability, and then the next conversation would probably be how to reinforce it with a couple more arms that could work around him to prevent the collapse we experienced this year from happening again.
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