Alex Cora let Kenley Jansen send a loud message to potential Red Sox trade suitors

The Boston Red Sox were in desperate need of a win on Saturday against their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees, after dropping the opener of their series at home by a lopsided 8-1 score.

The Red Sox held a 6-3 lead after seven innings, but the Yankees were threatening in the eighth. A DJ LeMahieu RBI groundout cut Boston's lead to 6-4, and New York had the tying runs on base with Anthony Volpe coming up.

Rather than sticking with Greg Weissert, a former Yankee who had thrown 26 pitches while recording just two outs in the frame, Red Sox manager Alex Cora listened to his player. Kenley Jansen, the team's closer, called from the bullpen himself to tell Cora that he was coming into that game. He was going to seal the victory.

Kenley Jansen's gutsy performance should only appeal to potential Red Sox trade suitors

Jansen wound up getting Volpe to fly out to get his team out of trouble. The Red Sox added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, leading up to Jansen retiring Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Alex Verdugo in succession to seal Boston's win. The top of the ninth wasn't quite as impressive considering Boston had extended its lead, but there's no way Jansen knew that was going to happen. Regardless, getting two of the best hitters in baseball out is a feat.

"I don't want to lose that game," Jansen said. "Guys grinded their butts off today and when you see all your players hit all their cylinders and playing great baseball, you want to be a part and stop the momentum from the other side so we could get that win."

This was only the second time this season in which Jansen recorded more than three outs in an outing. The other had come seven days ago when Jansen completed two scoreless innings against the White Sox. He might be 36 years old, but Kenley is showing that when he's needed, he still has the ability to lock things down, even for more than three outs.

The right-hander now has a 2.74 ERA in 22 appearances and 23 innings of work. His walks have been up this season, but eight of the 11 free passes he has issued came in his first six outings. He has 11 saves in 12 tries. He might not be the Jansen of old, but he's still really, really good.

Despite the fact that the team is 36-35 and right in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, it feels almost certain that the Red Sox are going to trade Kenley at this year's trade deadline. They have no interest in keeping him around past the 2024 campaign, and can instead flip him for an asset that can help them now and/or in the future.

Assuming Boston does follow through on a Jansen trade, this gutsy showing on Saturday should only appeal to interested suitors. His ability to record a four-out save against the top of the Yankees order and show as much confidence as he did entering the game won't go unnoticed.