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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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Kenley Jansen's inaugural World Baseball Classic was so long ago, he had yet to record even one of his 476 career saves in Major League Baseball. Jansen was not even a pitcher in 2009 when he first suited up for Team Netherlands.
Now 38, the Curaçao native revealed he intends to play in the 2026 edition of the WBC this spring — and that it will be his last.
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"I think I want to do that to honor the Netherlands," Jansen told Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast. "I think this will be probably my last Classic that I will play but also just to honor the Netherlands — the opportunity, the chance to showcase myself. I made a great living. Just to play with my boys, man, my boys that I grew up with. Ozzie (Albies, a fellow native of Curaçao) and those boys are much younger than me."
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Jansen recently signed a one-year, $11 million contract with the Detroit Tigers for the 2026 season. He told Bradford that he's already informed manager A.J. Hinch of his decision.
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"I'm not going to do anything crazy" in the WBC, Jansen told Bradford. "Tigers is the priority."
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Jansen participated in the 2009 WBC for Team Netherlands as a catcher when he was still a minor leaguer in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
The Dodgers converted Jansen to a reliever full-time later that year. He debuted in Los Angeles in 2010, and by 2012 was the Dodgers' closer. In 16 seasons with the Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels, Jansen has made four All-Star teams.
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Only four closers have recorded more career saves than Jansen. All three — Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith — are in the Hall of Fame.
Jansen was 5-4 with 29 saves in 2025 for the Angels. He needs 24 saves this year to become the third member of baseball's 500-save club.
First, he'll make a return engagement to the WBC.
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