December 7: Kimbrel can increase the value of the buyout based on game and games finished in 2024, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It will be an extra $100K for pitching in 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 games, as well as another $100K for finishing the same amounts. If Kimbrel were to max out all of those, the buyout would jump to $2MM.
December 6: The Orioles announced the signing of closer Craig Kimbrel to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2025 season. It’s a reported $13M guarantee for the SportsMeter client. Kimbrel will make $12MM in 2024 with a $1MM buyout on a $13MM option for ’25.
Baltimore has been looking to fortify the back of their bullpen this winter, with Félix Bautista set to miss the 2024 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery. In that search, they have been connected in rumors to just about every notable reliever, including Josh Hader, Robert Stephenson and Jordan Hicks, though those guys are set for multi-year deals.
Details of this deal between the O’s and Kimbrel aren’t known but it’s possible it’s a one-year deal, since he settled for a one-year pact last offseason and is now going into his age-36 campaign. In that case, Kimbrel could act as a bridge, covering the closing role in Baltimore for one season and then relinquishing it to Bautista for 2025.
Kimbrel has a lengthy track record of having been one of the most dominant relievers in the game, having racked up 417 saves since debuting with Atlanta back in 2010. Recent years have been a bit more rocky but he’s coming off a generally solid season.
Over 2019 and 2020 with the Cubs, Kimbrel had an earned run average of 6.00 in 36 innings, a noticeable slide since his previous nine seasons only once resulted in an ERA over 2.74. He got back on track in 2021 with an ERA of 2.26 between the Cubs and White Sox, though he was far better before being traded than after. His ERA was a ridiculous 0.49 before the deal but 5.09 after. He was traded to the Dodgers for the 2022 season and posted a respectable 3.75 ERA, but he was shaky enough that year to get removed from the closer’s role in September and then left off that club’s playoff roster.
Kimbrel signed with the Phillies for 2023, a one-year deal with a $10MM guarantee. He tossed 69 innings for the Phils over 71 appearances this year, finishing with a 3.26 ERA, 33.8% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. He earned 23 saves and seven holds in the process. He didn’t fare so well in the postseason, allowing four earned runs in six innings, but that’s a tiny sample of work relative to the season overall.
That won’t quite live up to Bautista’s recent performance, but there are few pitchers in the world who could. His first two seasons in the big leagues resulted in a 1.85 ERA and 40.4% strikeout rate. Only Edwin Díaz, who missed 2023 due to knee surgery, had a higher strikeout percentage in that time. But Kimbrel will nonetheless strengthen the bullpen relative to where it was a few days ago, joining other high-leverage relievers such as Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe.
Assuming Kimbrel is in the closer’s role, he will have a chance to continue climbing the all-time saves leaderboard. Kenley Jansen currently sits seventh on that list with 420 while Kimbrel is eighth with 417. Both of those closers will have a chance to jump three more spots in 2024. Billy Wagner is currently sixth with 422, John Franco is fifth with 424 and Francisco Rodríguez is fourth with 437. That means each of Jansen and Kimbrel could be in the top five by the end of next year.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the O’s and Kimbrel were in serious discussions. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the sides were nearing and then in agreement on a deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the financial terms.
I know they need a closer but I do not like him!
Neat
Clase to Orioles deal is near per Baseball Suspectus.
Guardians to receive Santander and prospects
I like the idea of Clase going to the O’s, but I don’t like the idea of trading Santander.
@avenger65: To get a player you want, you have to give up something the other team wants.
Haven’t won’t won a postseason game since 2014, was swept in 2023, and take on a guy who just lost two playoff/world series games. Yikes.
Well. in fairness, he’s never done well outside of closing. IF they use him that way, it might work out. He’s bombed as a set-up man.
Good for the O’s. I was hoping Atl would’ve signed him. Fond memories of Kimbrell as a Braves powerhouse.
Thank Craig for the memories, but please, no thank you on a reunion. Guy has become a box of chocolates…
…never know what you’re gonna get.
@Run, there’s a lot of box of chocolates out there. If we knew what we were gonna get every year I’d go for the chocolate mousse!
chocolate & coconut, here — sweet island paradise
True story, 18 years ago we had a 65 lb. dog who knocked a box of chocolates off the table. The candy was individually wrapped in foil, which the dog had unwrapped 4 pieces & eaten the candy! How does that happen?
It’s been awhile since those days.
I would like to see a video of the dog unwrapping the chocolates. You would think he’d just gobble them down, wrappers and all. Chocolate is usually a no-no for dogs. I’m glad he didn’t get sick and that he stopped at 4 pieces.
The only thing worse than eating too much chocolate is biting down on foil. It’s like fingernails down a chalk board.
Absolutely no proof there is ANY deal cose with the Guardians. It’s just a shame people still feel the need to write totally unsubstantiated items on here, well it’s the internet, why should I be the least bit surprised???
Not seeing this anywhere. Can you verify this via an external site link?
Agnes, he does his best pitching on November 31. When he blows a save on the rest of the days, you’ll be asking “What Do I Do Now?”
Definitely a huge mistake! Someone isn’t watching the games
I just can’t get past his ridiculous CACAW stance. I guess it works to have the hitter cracking up inside prior to the pitch?
The first time I saw Craig Kimbrel take his stance on the mound I thought what the hell? As he was growing up, playing ball, etc, I wonder how he ended up with that stance. Weird, to say the least.
Like the wet bandits.
Went cheap. Angelos family are horrible owners.
Too cheap to get the right guy – Josh Hader.
I won’t argue that the Angelos family isn’t cheap or horrible owners. They are. I’d say the GM made the right choice here, though. Signing Hader would have taken more money over more years. With Bautista coming back in ’25, they only need a closer for one season. Kimbrel is the perfect guy for that.
You have a pretty good point there, if you look at it like that. We’ll see how many saves Kimbrel blows next summer.
There will be some adventures, for sure. A few blown saves next summer may be preferable to having Hader on the books and Angelos crying poor when it comes time to extend Adley though, I don’t know.
Exactly. Angelos is loaded. and we all know you can’t take it with you. You would think he would like to see a championship banner under his watch. But, no dice. Some things never change.
There is about 10-15 blown games right there
How come ‘Mr Insider’ Jon Heyman wasn’t first with this?
He’s busy making other crapola up.
he’s too busy trying to be the first to report that Sohey Ohtani appears headed to the giants
Odd=–the O’hs are spending on to-be-36 year old reliever? i know he still throws hard. but he’s at the stage where he’s erratic. Be an interesting market-maker.
He’ll give you a heart attack, but he gets the job done more often than not.
13 losses as a closer over the last two years isn’t great.
Nope. He’s not great anymore. But he can be very good at times.
Exactly. People wrote him off after he scuffled with the Cubs and all he does is keep coming back and getting the job done the overwhelming majority of the time. At the right price point, Kimbrel is definitely worth the risk.
MLB fan: I think GMs look at what he was, not what he is
That latest playoff showing tarnished him for me. He completely lost himself. I don’t think I’d want that risk for a team looking to go the distance.
I don’t buy that, Avenger, that GMs are stuck in the past and ignore the present. Extra hard to believe that from Elias and Sig.
@Von – Does PHI go closer from within or do you expect Hader/FA? They seem to have so many southpaws in the pen already to add Hader for $$$.
They don’t want to spend big on a reliever, especially when they have solid internal options. Hader would be nice, but they’ll be aiming lower. I personally wouldn’t mind a Neris reunion or a trade for Clase. They tend to close based on situation, so they don’t necessarily need a finisher. Just some more solid arms.
Robertson would have been a far better risk at the same commitment or less.
Oh I think Kimbrel is mofe effective than D-Rob. D-Rob was batting practice towards the end of the year.
RA – Agreed. White Sox fans have rightful baggage when it comes to Kimbrel. But projecting that onto GMs way off.
I’m not seeing that in the Game Logs. I do see he got hit in 3 of 4 last August appearances. Did you watch him closely, Von? I would be interested in hearing more.
Wins and Loses are near pointless for relievers. How about a 3.49 ERA, 3.54 FIP, 120 ERA+ over the same stretch you’ve mentioned. This is a future hall of fame reliever who even with diminished stuff is still a productive bullpen weapon. For some reason people just view his 1-2 anomalous bad seasons as bad omens when he went out and balled afterwards. He may not have the stuff to be an elite closer any more but he’s an improvement to every bullpen in the league.
Losses for a closer are not pointless. They show at a minimum how many times he failed.
Kind of. There are also cases where the defense failed him.
GareBear: As a White Sox fan, I know he is god-awful. And this is when the Sox still knew how to play bb. He came over from the cubs with something like a 1.25 ERA and pitched his way to a 5.49 ERA when we finally got rid of him.
@garebear I agree and I think the O’s would be realistic in their sales pitch to Kimbrel in how to maximize his effectiveness as an older closer. They’ve got other guys with good stuff like Cano and Hall that can spot close to help keep Kimbrel fresh. I don’t think he’d be leading the league in save opportunities or anything like that.
Kimbrel was 4th percentile for hard-hit percentage last year which is HORRENDOUS! 13% Barrel; 20% Exit Velo; 25% BB rate all scream ineffective short reliever, 3.49 ERA is poor for a one-inning reliever. His 1.043 WHIP last year was acceptable but his 1.317 WHIP is 2022 was terrible. Nothing good can be said about his 1.3 HR/9 in 2023 either. btw: while Wins are pointless for relievers, Losses are not.
I don’t think we can call Kimbrel a bad signing but it is at best underwhelming,
@OneBite Do you know first-hand whether Boston’s 2023 defense was wretched as their 2022 defense?
Lol losses for closers are completely pointless, I have no idea how this got 6 likes. You realize a closer can get a loss when pitching the 10th inning by getting 3 straight outs due to the ghost runner?? Absolutely clueless take. Don’t ever look at losses then mean literally nothing
@rols
While i dont believe wins and losses are the best way to judge a pitcher it does show a little more for a closer as they are usually brought in to start innings so do mean a bit more on them. But I would like to know how many times that scenario has actually happened, where a closer got 3 straight out and got a loss due to the ghost runner. I would think less than 1% of games if not even smaller than that. Probably less than getting a no hitter nowadays.
I could say you know car accidents can happen but you shouldnt count them at all because a mini cooper filled with a dozen clowns dancing the macarena drove by and smacked me on the head with a squeaky hammer. This can happen but not likely. Yes i watch too many cartoons but it is still a remote possiblity and this would make a hilarious story.
Losses are a bad stat. Doesn’t matter if that exact scenario happens often, there are plenty of scenarios where losses don’t reflect how well a pitcher pitched. Bad defense, bad luck, bad calls….
Except that the pitcher probably pitched poorly.
Look who’s trolling.
btw: you got zero Likes. #ratioed
I literally just commented clown. You know nothing about baseball, clearly
Go back to the basement, little boy, You act like an adolescent
Could also mean the pitcher got blown up regularly with homeruns or hits batters. that a defense or bad luck or bad calls had nothing to do with. You cant tell unless you look at other stats either way.
Losses are not the best stat in general but it could still be considered for a closer where they usually comes in to start and pitch one inning. To get the loss the team would have had to have been leading or tied when he came in so that would lessen the defense a bit because they already went 7-8 innings or more and would have hurt them before the closer. Especially in close games they put in defensive replacements to reduce the bad defense option. Are they still variables? yes, but with a closer those variables are a little less than say a starter over multiple innings and needing the bats to get a lead or dealt with bad calls/defense over the game across multiple innings. Bad luck could also be on the batter as well or bad calls like pitches being called strike that were in the other batters box. Overall the luck usually evens out.
Am i saying only judge them completely by losses? No i would take other stats into it too like FIP and WHIP and such higher but i would actually weigh losses a bit for closers.
Says the guy who thinks losses aren’t a bad stat. Low IQ lol
“You can’t tell unless you look at other stats”. Exactly! That’s literally the point….
Of course, Roll, if the pitcher gives up a high percentage of hits – which many pitchers do or do not regardless of defense behind them – they will result in losses from the team. But FIP will hide the poor pitching by disregarding the data points. I prefer xERA and WHIP if we want to add context for ERA. FIP seemed primitive when it came out; now it looks outdated.
“losses for closers are completely pointless”
so your saying you would hire a closer with 20 losses last season? I wouldnt but according to you its pointless..
games played are pointless unless you look at other stats what if they record 1/3 of an inning each outing and walk 2 others?
saves are pointless unless you look at other stats what if they blew 20 saves and had 20 good saves? a closer with a 50% close rate probably shouldnt close
ERAs are pointless unless you look at other stats such as when they come in they have a 0% strand rate and let in everyone including ghost runners (which dont counts against ERA) score or they have an amazing defense that keeps runs from scoring.
strikeouts are pointless unless you look at other stats they can strikeout 40 but be wild and walk 40.
do i keep going? No one stat can be the end all for anything so of course “you cant tell unless you look at other stats” but losses for a closer can be telling if they are racking up losses because they are the last ones in there to close out the games and if they arent maybe they cant be that clutch guy you count on and is better served as a middle innings person.. They also cant blame their losses on others because they are supposed to be the last pitcher in there so having someone else let your runners scored means you still failed.
If im low IQ what does that make you to think one stat will tell the whole story. Can you be negative IQ … i would venture in your case yes.
Omg Lord have mercy…rols1026 you gotta eat this one, because for closers a loss for them means they blew the save, which means they failed at their most important job. So yeah, losses are very telling for a closer.
Well said, Roll, considering multiple factors is what is the beginning of critical thinking. The myopic viewpoint of dismissing losses for a reliever only hinders a clearer understanding of his performance. That kind of black-and-white thinking tends to prevent understanding.
Kimbrel is neither the best nor the worst. But he did get banged around a number of times and we should expect that to be the case this year, best case scenario. Huge dropoff from Bautista. The Orioles will need to employ more of a committee approach than last year.
@ra
thanks
I just hope that it doesnt end up with what the mets had last year once Diaz got hurt. As good as Robertson was its hard to recover from losing a great closer. it lengthens the game and puts you more into a commitee approach (him and ottavino) as you said and puts a bigger burden from top to bottom on the relief corps and pushes people into roles they probably should not be in.
You say a 1.04 whip is only “acceptable”? Therein is the problem. You are expecting greatness and not seeing that he is a solid pitcher. Even if he were bad last year (which he wasn’t) he has a track record of rebounding. The team payed similar money for crap innings from Gibson. At least this money could get them some solid innings. The hard contact is concerning but they aren’t even making contact nearly 1/3 of the time. It can never hurt to have an all time great on a team of young guys.
A loss doesn’t mean they blew the save??? Are you dumb??
Hmmm .A dozen clowns in a Mini dancing the Macarena.? That is unusual. But anything can happen. The other day I saw 13 transvestites in a pink VW Beetle convertible singing God Save the Queen while drinking shots of tequila and texting their friends to meet them at the Butt Pirates bar for drinks, dancing and shenanigans. I couldn’t believe it. They were actually texting while driving. Crazy…
You added “only” to suggest I was disparaging his 2023 WHIP when I was expressing something good about his WHIP last year. For a reliever, that’s not “great” but it’s certainly not bad. But his 2022 WHIP was bad for a reliever. Believe me when I say that I am not expecting greatness from Kimbrel. I hope he’ll be as good as last year. But I think the Orioles are going to need help at back end of the bullpen, especially from DL Hall.
I thought the Gibson signing was a bad investment. His value was mostly that he ate innings. He had a few very good outings as well as some truly lousy starts. I am happy they did not re-sign him.
If the “all-time great” pitches poorly, it sure can hurt the team. And if that poor-pitching all-time great takes away innings from young pitchers, it can hurt them directly.
PS: the word is spelled “paid,” in English. “Payed” means to seal planks on a wooden boat.
What is this MLBTR obsession with spelling? Well if we are looking year by year let’s go back even one more year and see his WHIP in 2021. Two outta three years ain’t bad. WHIP fluctuates for relievers a lot. A bad month can kill you. They should trade for exactly what they want since they don’t want to spend and there isn’t a ton available and it’s at a high price. But the unwillingness to spend is why they are unlikely to give up controllable assets via trade. Given their unwillingness to commit dollars I think a one year deal with a bit of upside was the right thing to do. But they need more.
Being that you were being pedantic (and dishonest) twisting my words, you should expect to have your error pointed out in kind. You reap what you sow…
WHIP is not as volatile as you suggest. Take Kimbrel’s WHIPs when he was among the dominant relievers, for example – consistently excellent.
But to agree with you, the Orioles do need more. However I do not agree that we know they will not trade prospects for a SP. True, they won’t trade Holliday and hopefully won’t trade Basallo or Mayo. But I could see them trading other top 100 prospects for a Cease/Woo/Miller/Luzardo type. And I could see Cowser and Westburg being the cornerstones of such a trade.
Well considering I never twisted your words but said exactly what you said……….
If we are talking about a closer who comes into the game in the bottom of the 9th inning & his team is up 5-4 and he walks the first batter and promptly gives up a two-run homerun to the second batter then that closer will accrue the loss because he blew the save.
You can blow a save without accruing the loss if the pitcher just gives up a solo homerun to tie the game in the 9th and his team comes back to win it in the 10th inning.
That’s the way of the closer. They’re not there to close out the game. They’re there to make the last inning exciting/dramatic
Yikes. From Felix Bautista to Craig Kimbrel.
I don’t think this is gonna go well.
He’s a great fit for that stadium and he’s still good, it’ll work just fine
Having Kimbrel in the bullpen is a great thing. Actually using him in a clutch situation is another matter entirely.
The Orioles could have saved money and signed David Robertson, who has been far more effective and trustworthy the past two seasons and has better statcast numbers.
I don’t understand Elias then. Supposedly tight-fisted with the money but spends $13 million on a closer past his prime by about 3 years. Did he not watch the NLCS ??? This team needs a starter, one would think 13mill would be better allocated towards that endeavor, not for this retread.
this man’s agent deserves a raise. he convinces teams that his client is good every off-season even after recent memory serves to show that he clearly is terrible.
In what world was he terrible last season?
Definitely not “terrible.” He was good. Robertson was better and would have been the 1-year commitment I would have suggested. Probably at less money.
Never liked him. Even in his high days, anxiety-induced outings every night.
Like watching a drunken baby on a tightrope every single outing.
@tom price
He already reported Kevin Kimbrel signed with the o’s
Rexhudler: That’s got to be much better than signing Craig.
A perfectly cromulent 1 year (I would assume) stand-in for Felix Bautista. Don’t love it, don’t hate it, it’s fine and it checks an item off the to-do list. Groovy.
Now go get me my TOR SP, Mike.
King Floch: Actually, it adds another item into the to-do list: Signing a closer to close for kimbrell.
I don’t really get the “Kimbrel sucks” meme. He’s obviously not elite anymore, but he’s posted a 136 ERA+ and 3.19 FIP over the last 3 years. In other words, he’s fine.
But if he does falter, the Orioles have multiple options to step in- Cano, Coulombe, Hall, Wells, etc.
No, Kimbrel is not cromulent af anything but sucking.
136 ERA+ and 3.19 FIP since Opening Day 2021.
That seems pretty cromulent to me.
You’re delusional if you think Kimbrel sucks
Floch – Agree with “fine”
Now they need to embiggen the top half of the rotation.
Agreed. Hopefully we have that TOR guy by the time Smarch rolls around.
Kimbrel’s issues last year were home runs. Won’t have a HR problem at OPACY with that fence. He gets most of his outs via flyball or strikeout.
That plays here. We needed a closer w/ Felix out. Cano is a set up man.
I’m not going to be surprised if a starting pitcher ends up being a deadline acquisition.
They may want to see Hall get a shot in the rotation. I really think he should be a lockdown reliever instead but I understand the appeal.
He pitched pretty good last year for the Phillies. He will make things interesting at times but usually gets the job done. Best of luck in Baltimore.
Yup, pretty good. Meh. Makes me think DL Hall is not going to sniff the rotation this season; he’ll be needed too much in the pen. Kimbrel is not going to provide anything close to Bautista-like performance.
He’s good for about 20 saves a year, the question is, who’s going to save the other 20-30 saves needed???????
DL Hall and Yennier Cano, most likely.
Maybe Brian Baker and Danny Coulombe.
Dillon Tate could also be an option if he is healthy to start the year.
C. Perez will get closing opportunities too.
Baker!?
At least you didn’t say Baumann.
He’s got the stuff and has flashed the ability to harness it at times. It would not shock me if 2024 is the year he puts it all together.
The fine wine theory: somehow the mediocre, old reliever suddenly blossoms into something superior to what he has been.
It happens all the time.
Felix Bautista and Yennier Cano, for example.
I guess if we throw out 80% of the data points Kimbrel looks, ahem … like a second-tier high leverage reliever. But that simplistic approach ignores 4% hard-hit 13% Barrel; 20% Exit Velo; 25% BB rate. That looks like a guy who rides the bus back-and-forth to AAA.
I thought we were talking about Bryan Baker?
I agree that Kimbrel isn’t exciting or sexy, but it checks off Mike’s “RP with closing experience” wish list item and allows him to move onto the much more pressing matter of upgrading the rotation.
Felix and Cano are both in their 20s with low mileage on their arms. Added together they had 100 IPs in MLB compared to 35 y.o. Kimbrel’s 757 IPs.
You can’t seriously put them in the same category as Old Man Kimbrel.
Again, we were talking about Bryan Baker.
I understand now that you were referring to Baumann, not Kimbrel. It would shock me if Baumann can learn to keep the ball in the park. But I would be happy if he could.
K
My bad, King, just seeing your two recent posts about talking about Baker. I had come to think you meant Baumann after first thinking you meant Kimbrel.
Baker might break through. He has had a couple good stretches.
Are you trolling?
25% BB rate?? Ummm you mean 10%?
No. You didn’t read all comments, obviously.
No 25% league percentile, per baseball savant. Meaning 3/4s of the league had lower BB/9..
Can’t understand how you could understand all three other stats were percentiles and then couldn’t grasp the fourth one was a percentile ranking also.
Great. And what percentage of the league had a better K%? Maybe show the whole picture
Instead of trolling, you should post it, if you want to present an argument.
I just did? Kimbrel has tons of good stats, you’re just only looking at the bad ones for some reason
I don’t see where you posted it, but that is a far better approach to making your argument than asking why I didn’t post it. Be honest, you aren’t going to post any stat that doesn’t support your King Kimbrel adoration. And that’s OK. What we end up with is an old reliever with a lot of miles on his arm who can strike out batters but gets clubbed like a seal when batters make contact.
Baker in reality is a fine middle relief option for the regular season. But I can’t believe we put that bum on the postseason roster AND let him pitch. After
Not throwing any meaningful innings for us in months.
Fuji or Baumann should’ve had that slot. Baker will never be a high leverage arm.
Maybe so Brian. Seems to me like Baumann is never going to be able to keep the ball in the park. Guess people could say the same about Baker.
I might have gone with Fuji over either of the other two. At least you know in a couple of pitches whether it is Dr. Fuji or Mr. Shintaro.
@Ra
True. Fuji is the definition of volatility but at least he was pitching in the major leagues all summer. Bryan Baker went from Norfolk to one mop up appearance against TB to pitching on the postseason roster.
I mean Webb was just as bad in the postseason and it honestly wouldn’t have mattered. But I just didn’t understand Baker being the one included.
Fifth team in three years. Wanting Kimbrel seems preferable to having Kimbrel.
@LordD
Classic hired gun. Thankfully, I’m not aware that he’s a bad character guy that Chapman appears to be.
Well said, Spock.
It is not logical, but is often true.
The M-5 agrees.
I guess one year is ok. Depends on the scratch involved.
I knew losing Bautista would hurt, but to pick up this guy reeks of desperation. Surely the O’s have the money to go after someone who will save games, not blow leads in the ninth inning. There’s a reason why so many teams have dumped him and why the LAD left him off the 2022 PO roster.
The top closers aren’t exactly available. Who would you recommend the Orioles sign?
Trade for Williams from the Crew. That’s a win-now move for sure.
Aren’t the Brewers also trying to win now?
Yes but they have offensive needs and he’s a relative luxury at the moment – lots of good relievers with potential in the pipeline.
For what I believe will be 1/$10 commitment to Kimbrel, I would rather they signed David Robertson.
good point @avenger65
I’d rather we offer Stephenson a stronger offer and hope that DL Hall can take the save opportunities along w a situational committee.
2 yrs of Stevenson would be preferable to Kimbrell for 1 too.
His trademark version of leaning low to read the signs from the catcher is a hilarious experience to watch now that signs are transmitted via pitchcom.
“Gentlemen, after 101 wins, we blew it in the playoffs! We need ideas! Bold ones! And leadership for our young talent! Suggestions?”
“Sir? We could get an old guy who costs a lot of money. He won’t play everyday and he was a liability in the postseason this year.”
“Give this man a raise!”
Kimbrell is the new Mike Morgan, just go to every team for a year, rinse repeat.
Wish Kimbrel further success.
He did a pretty good job for the Phils last year, but was gassed at the end. If Balt uses him as a trad closer, he’ll do well again.
Saying that, he’s not a Thompson-type pitcher.
As a Rays fan, go ahead and sign him. He’s on the downward slide in spite of his numbers. Doesn’t pass the eye test.
Enjoy the tightrope baltimore
Awesome! Now the Orioles have a closer who likes to do bird poses on the mound.
Orioles are clearly not done and I think now they focus on a potential ACE.
I am not believing the Cease talk because I don’t think the O’s will overpay on prospects for 2 guaranteed years.
Camden Yards needs to add about 300 extra defibrillators in the stands. When he pitched for the Dodgers, it was a heart attack waiting to happen every time he was on the bump
does the cost of the defibrillators count against the payroll luxury tax? lol. and funeral expenses for the fans that unfortunately did not make it? wait… Johnny will never spend to come close to the luxury tax penalties. nevermind.
Same thing with Red Sox in ’18
Have fun with him Orioles, love Philly
Kimbrel is like one of those 20 year old sports cars you see on a used-car lot in a seedy part of town. Looks flashy on the outside and sounds good when you start it up. But once you drive it off the lot, high mileage and age will only take you so far before it breaks down in the most inconvenient location (like thr middle of a pennant chase).
There are lots of decent closer options that would cost less and likely get Baltimore further than Kimbrel at this point.
You have a good point. But what better options would you have recommended? I don’t know the O’s that well, so curious.
Ew. Hopefully just for one year. And hopefully he’s not closing in the biggest games given his tendency to blow up in those settings
I hate this
Amazing lottery win for Kimbrel at this point in his career.
Just goes to show the nutty premium on pitching nowadays.
Journeyman Craig on his 8th team. Look out Edwin Jackson.
Not a awful contract but for a penny pinching team 13m for 1 reliever I dunno. They found relievers cheaper in past. They can’t do it again? He isn’t my ideal closer or setup guy at this point. Still really good but a few red flags and just not my type. But it’s just me and this is a fair enough price.
He’s really just holding down the fort until Bautista comes back. 13 million and for one year won’t tie them up. But yes, he’s going to be a rollercoaster ride as a closer.
Nothing wrong with Kimbrel as a stopgap in the closer role, but it seems odd they are paying him more than it would have possibly cost to retain Kyle Gibson for another year. The starting rotation needs a couple of quality arms. I guess there are still some intriguing names out there…
Gibson was an arm.
Is that to imply Kimbrel is something more?
That speaks to the scarcity of bullpen options. He got a $3 million raise.
The Bird Man in Bird Land.
Good riddance. He’s you’re problem now Baltimore!
Kimbrel gives the O’s what they need: a one year backend of the bullpen option while Bautista recovers from TJ surgery
Kimbrel will be on the IL before the All Star break with an injured neck from twisting his head looking at all the dingers he will give up next season.
I don’t know why, but I always mix up or associate Kimbrel with Keuchel.
LET’S GO O’S!!!!
Baltimore… he will cost you with huge postseason losses! You will not advance with him
And so Craig finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home…
This move will burn them just like it did the Phillies.
Nobody in Baltimore watched the playoffs.
13 million for a 36 year old bullpen arm.. yea ok
Not a bad signing. Everybody deserves repeat second chances. Plus 13 million dollars. We’ll see.
No wonder Angelos wouldn’t let him spend money, he’ll be dfa by the all star break.
I’m old enough to remember Stanhouse’s last year, and Jose Mesa was a little mercurial as a closer, Kimbrel will be a flashback in some respects. He’s not going to be as good as Bautista but really no one is right now.
Anything can happen in the postseason and Kimbrel has pitched in the postseason (both good and bad). In order to get there you have to get through the regular season and they have an above average closer to help get them there.
20 more saves and Kimbrel will be 4th all time in saves. 61 to tie Lee Smith.
Great deal for the Birds, we all hope they win the east.
This guy has been COOKED since Atlanta shipped him off almost 10 years ago! You suck Kimbrel!!
I would say 3 years. He’s had a good career overall though.
I have never seen so much hate towards an all time great pitcher. He will likely put up 120era+ or so. I didn’t see Kenleys stats last year but they seem to me to be comparable pitchers. Both used to be great and are inconsistent now. But Kimbrel has the “he’s not a playoff pitcher” thing hanging over him. A 35 year old reliever is likely not at their best after 7 or so months of pitching anyway. They come in in the hardest spots of the biggest games. The Phillies fans wanting to see Alvarado come in every inning forget he gave up the biggest HR in recent Phillies history just the year prior. If that were Kimbrel he’d have it tattooed on his forehead practically
Bonehead move.
Correction: Orioles sign Diamondbacks NLCS MVP Craig Kimbrell
Kimbrel is A dikkkhead Tells media he signs with the Orioles “because he wants to win”………well IF IT WASN’T FOR HIM, HE WOULD’VE PLAYED IN THE WORLD SERIES LAST YEAR WITH THE PHILLIES!!! Hope he falls in the toilet.
I never would have thought Kimbrel would have had the kind of year he had with the Phillies after his disastrous 2nd half with the CWS in 2022 and the Dodger debacle in 2023. But here he is, making a guaranteed $13M.
Pimpin’ ain’t easy.
He said he came to the Orioles to win? If he would have gotten a couple outs in 2 games he would have won…………….good luck O`s
MVP for the Dbacks.