Here comes the craziness of Trade Deadline season
SEATTLE - The weekend began with Kenley Jansen inviting first-time All-Star Brent Rooker on his rented private plane after the A's outfielder's commercial flight was delayed into late Sunday night.
And, for the Red Sox closer, it was punctuated with a seamless outing in what would be a National League All-Star win. Jansen threw three total pitches all strikes on the way to striking out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to close out the eighth inning.
But the most memorable part of the festivities might have been some simple conversation with a certain Los Angeles Angel. Kenley Jansen, meet Shohei Ohtani.
After the game, there was a reason more than a few members of the Japanese media gathered around Jansen's locker, and it had little to do with his dominance of Gurriel Jr.
Putting best feet forward when it comes to Ohtani has become a constant this season, with the environment at T-Mobile Ballpark offering the latest examples. There were the chants from the home crowd directed at the potential free agent-to-be, yelling, "Come to Seattle!"
It also sure seemed Jansen also wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by.
"Really good. Really good. I can’t say anything but really good. We’ll see," Jansen said when asked about the pair's meeting. "I basically spent a lot of time today talking to him."
The Sox closer added, "I would love to have him as my teammate, I can tell you that right now.
"I admire watching him. That’s the one player I would love to watch every time, especially when he is pitching … Of course, that’s the first guy I wanted to see today, and this whole trip."