Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, pitcher Craig Kimbrel has agreed to terms on a contract with the Chicago Cubs, pending a physical. Rosenthal reports that it is a three-year deal worth $45 million.
Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers were also involved in discussions for the reliever. However, Olney notes that that doesn’t mean either one was particularly close
Teams had been waiting to sign Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel until after the MLB Draft so they would not have to lose a draft pick, as both players had declined qualifying offers last year.
Kimbrel, 31, is one of the best closers of all time and is coming off a World Series championship with the Boston Red Sox. Last year he went 5-1 with a 2.74 ERA, 3.13 FIP, and 0.995 WHIP with 96 strikeouts and 31 walks in 62.1 innings. He has appeared in at least 57 games every season since and including 2011 when he was Rookie of the Year.
Kimbrel has career 1.91 ERA, 1.96 FIP, 0.920 WHIP, and 14.7 K/9 rates as he joins a bullpen already including Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, Brad Brach, Brandon Kintzler, and Carl Edwards Jr. Brandon Morrow, the Cubs’ best reliever prior to this trade, is working back from an injury and just today threw form 90 feet.
The Cubs bullpen ranked 8th in the MLB with a 4.02 staff ERA at the time of this trade and that number is sure to get lower with the acquisition of Kimbrel. The possible future Hall-of-Famer will surely make a couple of minor league appearances to get back in the swing of things before joining the Cubs, who the Mets have a four-game set against from June 20-23.
