Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that the Chicago Cubs are “pushing hard” to sign reliever Craig Kimbrel.
Kimbrel, 31, is no longer tied to draft pick compensation as of Monday at 12:01 a.m. as the MLB Draft started later that day at 7 p.m.
The right-handed reliever and left-handed starter Dallas Keuchel have both found themselves stuck on the free agent market into the month of June.
That being said, their wait to sign with teams appears to be coming to a close. Previously, it was being said that the Atlanta Braves were looking like the frontrunners for Kimbrel and the New York Yankees were the frontrunners for Keuchel.
However, Kimbrel’s market possibly has evolved into the Cubs being the favorites, and the Braves being a close second.
In 2018, Kimbrel was the closer for the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox in which he recorded 42 saves with a 2.74 ERA, 0.995 WHIP, 3.13 FIP, 13.9 SO/9.
