The Orioles are “seriously engaged” on free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (X link). Baltimore has been involved on a number of late-game bullpen arms as they look to compensate for the loss of Félix Bautista to Tommy John surgery.
Kimbrel wouldn’t be as notable a pickup as Josh Hader or Jordan Hicks, in whom Baltimore reportedly also expressed interest. Kimbrel would be a far more affordable acquisition, though. That’s more a reflection of his age (36 in May) than performance, as the nine-time All-Star turned in a generally solid showing for the Phillies.
After inking a $10MM free agent contract with Philadelphia last winter, Kimbrel operated in his customary closing role. He picked up 23 saves with seven more holds while blowing only five leads in the regular season. The right-hander worked to a 3.26 ERA through 69 innings, striking out a little over a third of opponents in the process. Kimbrel’s fastball sat in the customary 96 MPH range, while he picked up a whiff on nearly 14% of his offerings.
It was a good season overall, even if it ended on a less resounding note. Kimbrel allowed four runs with five strikeouts and walks apiece over six innings in the postseason. It was the second consecutive season that didn’t end as he’d hoped; Kimbrel had been left off the Dodgers’ playoff roster in 2022. Yet his overall body of work over the past three years — a 3.10 ERA with a 34.4% strikeout percentage across 188 2/3 innings — is quite strong.
With the possible exception of Hader, no pitcher could reasonably be expected to rival what the O’s would’ve anticipated from a healthy Bautista. Kimbrel remains an above-average reliever, though, one who clearly has no qualms handling the ninth inning. If the O’s plugged him in as closer for a season, they’d be able to keep Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe in a setup capacity.
Yo O’s, when I said you needed pitching I meant GOOD pitching. SMH.
Despite his poor playoff performance, Kimbrel did have an above average season overall.
I wouldn’t give him more than 7.5m-8m on a one year deal, but he’s an experienced closer who still has gas in the tank. Heck, you’re likely looking at a possible future Hall of Famer once his career is all said and done.
Now, he clearly isn’t the same Craig Kimbrel who wore a Braves jersey that earned himself the nickname the Condor (his intimidating unique stance on the mound) or Craig KKimbrel (because he basically averaged 2 Ks an inning), but he is still an effective reliever that can help contribute to any contending team.
What do you call a 3.26 ERA and striking out 1/3 of batters faced exactly?
Kimbrel only blew 5 saves but he could’ve easily have blown another 10. He got very lucky and was the definition of a cardiac closer for the Phillies last year. He racked up a number of those Ks and saves against the bottom 1/3 teams in the league. He’s bound for regression. He’s not an awful choice but I think there’s much better options to sign or trade for other than Kimbrel.
@Jump, 3 Saves 1 W and 1 L against ATL. If you look through his game log, most of his BS’s PIT, CLE, post deadline NYM. He actually fared much better against good teams opposed to bad teams.
And Emmanuel Clase lead the league in saves and still blew 12 saves last year. Bautista blew 6 and could have blown more. Want to dismiss those two also? Is Kimbrel what he used to be, no, but he’s still a damn good pitcher. We need him to supplement the RP staff for a year. We don’t need him to be good for the next decade. He’s a fighter out there.
I’d call that below average for a high-leverage reliever. What would you call a reliever with 4% hard-hit, 13% Barrel; 20% Exit Velo; 25% BB???
I’d call that a damn bad pitcher.
Interesting he was an all-star last year. It’s too bad Kimberly fell off since 2019. Had he kept his previous pace all this time, we’d be talking about him approaching Smith, Hoffman and Rivera for all time Saves.
As of now he’s 8th all time. He’ll end the season 5th or 6th all time if he has even 20 saves. Jansen is currently ahead of him by only 3 saves but he’s also active.
At the end of his career he will be 3rd or 4th all time depending on how Jansen holds up.
When’s the wedding?!
All I know is, when that bird enters that church he better take off his hat and lose that stupid grin.
Pretty astounding how he’s been able to just stick around. Feels like he’s been around longer than his 2010 debut.
Only experienced closer out there that will take a 1 yr contract. Yes? No? Maybe?
A one yr contract with Baltimore? Book it!
Robertson will sign for 1 year. Would have been a better choice.
He’s so hard to watch with that doinky stance.
Baron, you are a local legend in Montgomery AL…
The O’s would be better off signing Stephenson or Stanek. Someone that can close but would have the versatility to pitch in multiple roles. Kimbrel still has decent velocity but his fastball has almost zero movement on it. Plus he struggled mightily locating it. He’s very extremely lucky his numbers were as good as they were. At times, he was among the least trustworthy bullpen pieces for the Phillies.
Another option could be if they’re willing to absorb some money. Maybe they see if the Braves want to move Iglesias. The Braves will probably want to free up money to reinvest into their rotation. So you could get a year of Iglesias as the full-time closer and he can swap with Bautista as he recovers from TJ. The O’s can probably just move 1-2 low level prospects to the Braves by just taking more of the contract on. Assuming the Braves would want to move their closer.
@Jumps, he walked 28 over 69 IP and had 4 WPs. Those #s are tight in line with his career avgs. He also had the 2nd most IP of his career last season, so per inning he was walking a bit less than his career avg. Not sure how that is in any way indicative of trouble locating.
I watched nearly every Phillies game this past season. I remember seeing a post on twitter back in September. I can’t find it so take it with a grain of salt if you will. But Kimbrel was in the top 5 of qualified relievers to be in 3 ball counts. While his number of walks was in line with career averages. He was throwing more pitches and more balls in 2023.
While his fastball does have solid velocity, it doesn’t have the sink that it used to in his prime. He had to rely on weak contact with his curve or pitching high in the zone with his fastball. I think part of it may not be his location but rather the lack of movement is making guys comfortable with taking pitches against him.
I think Kimbrel is a fine reliever who can be a good veteran presence in the pen and I would be fine with him pitching the 7th or 8th for my team. But I really feel O’s fans will develop stomach issues in 2024 from all of the ulcers they’ll get if Kimbrel is being labeled the primary closer. But that’s just me.
So of his 1136 pitches in 2023 408 were balls. The % of his pitches that were called a ball was his lowest since 2017. Sorry but again that is false.
Still hoping they pick Hicks instead, but until there’s actual movement, it’s hard to tell how much most of these relievers will go for.
Not a bad option to consider by any means. If my O’s can get him at a fair rate I’d be all for it. That being said, I’d prefer a bit more news in the starting pitching category before we think on the relief department.
Yeah, that’s the priority. Get a TOR starter and then Hall/Wells can move to late relief.
SP market is waiting on Yamamota. Should the O’s sit on their thumbs while waiting? Who cares what order they address their needs?
Because John Angelos is the one who has to pry open his wallet. Kimbrel effectively takes Gibson’s salary. That leaves the Frazier $ to pay for a starter. Hard to do without trading.
Honestly who cares? Baltimore ain’t winning a WS, any move they make means nothing. They’ll just continued to disappoint for another 40 years
Words hurt…
Please Don’t Sign Kimbrel. Baltimore you have a good thing going with this team find a better option PLEASE …
I was thinking Liam Hendriks would be a good fit in that clubhouse.
Be happy O’s fans. The Reds signed pagan for $8 mil a year. Much rather have Craig than a journeyman reliever for that price. Plus, it’s Baltimore.
Can’t figure out the meaning of “Plus it’s Baltimore” when it comes to Pagan and Kimbrel.
Makes sense. Kimbrel gets most of his outs via strike out or fly ball. Won’t find a LF wall more favorable than Oriole Park. He can close games out.
Great Googly Moogly
I’d be aiming higher if I was them. Give me Robert Stephenson or Jordan Hicks over Kimbrel, even if they are going to cost more. Time to spend some money, O’s.
Don’t. Just don’t.
he has been remarkable productive for a long time albeit not without causing his teams’ fanbase a lot of angst.
Stephenson would certainly be more appealing but who knows what that camp wants.i’m hoping this leak of info from a notoriously tight lipped front office is part of some ruse to get the Stevenson camp to accept our offer. at least, that’s the myth that I choose to believe until we ink a closer/RP.
I wouldn’t be as upset as i’d be with signing say Chapman. but I’ll take Kimbrel over some of the other options out there.
I’d love to see Tanner Scott return and the O’s getting Jesus Luzardo for a big package of log jammed prospects and former prospects. but that’s a dream scenario of a trade with the Fish. (btw, did they really sign Gabe Kapler as an assistant GM? that’ll not end well.)
You get 60 days of mid-season production.
Watched Kimbrel all of last year. Phillies over used him, and I guess he ran out of gas. by the time the playoffs arrived. Also, there were a few playoff appearances where the home plate umpire really squeezed him. Could have escaped at least two of those outings unscathed.
I’d welcome him back to Philly in a heartbeat and hope management learned its lesson. To wit, you don’t let a relief pitcher in his mid-30s surpass his career high IP mark.
If the O’s do sign him, take it from me, you will appreciate Kimbrel. Never once did he not answer the bell when called upon. Never once did he blame a poor outing on anyone but himself, including those aforementioned playoff appearances when the ump obviously squeezed him.
Kimbrel got over-used last year because Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado both spent significant time on the IL. If the O’s have a healthy bullpen, then they won’t need to use Kimbrel as much as the Phillies did and that should work out fine.
This. There were several days where he clearly needed extra rest, particularly when everyone in the pen was going multiple innings outside the norm. Meanwhile Taijuan was in the doghouse but was sitting on weeks of rest.
Hyde is not known for resting bullpen arms.
Despite his awful NLCS, he was quite effective during the session.
Here’s the signing that Will put the O’s over the top!! Finally a big free agent signing!!! Oh wait it’s not 2014. Kimbrel is now on somedays a shut down reliever other days a pinata. If I’m an O’s fan I’m worried. They haven’t extended any of that young talent. They should be in on Yamamoto and Snell. They’ll get someone like Paxton and hope for the best. It’s a shame.
Paxton might be a sneaky good signing. Yamamoto almost certainly won’t sign with the Orioles. And I am pretty sure there is an ownership directive to not sign any player to a contract he or Snell would demand. Stroman and Giolito might be good targets as well as E. Rodriguez.
The one player the Orioles should definitely sign long-term this Winter is Gunnar. I’m less worried about Boras trying to talk him out of signing; dude built a baseball facility with his signing bonus replete with Orioles logos. Sure, new paint jobs don’t cost much but he seems committed to the team. They should also sign Basallo long-term. I can’t see Holliday signing long-term. Not prudent to sign Adley.
I agree with the person who said Kimbrel was over used last year. Use him right and he is a nice addition to any bullpen. Additionally, the man is a class act. I watched him in the Phillies bullpen sign so many autographs for kids, throw kids balls from the bullpen, etc… He is a good human and likable. I’m sure his teammates like him too. Might not be a huge difference maker or make a big splash in free agency but he is a solid addition of used correctly. (I think at this point he would be a better set up man than a closer)