The Rays were reportedly in contact with free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel as of late March. A month and a half later, Kimbrel remains without a job, and the Rays are still among clubs “keeping in touch” with the seven-time All-Star, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The 24-14 Rays own baseball’s second-best record thanks in part to their bullpen, which ranks second in the majors in ERA and seventh in K/BB ratio. And they’ve done it without an established closer, having deployed Jose Alvarado, Diego Castillo and Emilio Pagan for at least three saves apiece. All three have been highly effective this season, as has fellow reliever Jalen Beeks, but with the juggernaut Yankees-Red Sox tandem breathing down Tampa Bay’s neck in the American League East, there’s room for outside reinforcements.
The main question for Kimbrel suitors, especially the low-budget Rays, centers on what type of offer would convince him to end his protracted stay on the open market. The 30-year-old entered free agency in November with designs on a contract befitting of a Cooperstown-caliber reliever. However, even after Kimbrel reportedly dropped his price to a more reasonable level last month, the market for the ex-Braves, Padres and Red Sox star has been shockingly tepid.
At this point, with the June 3-5 draft just a few weeks away, Kimbrel seems likely to continue without an employer until sometime next month. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explained this week, teams have held off on signing Kimbrel for this long, so it doesn’t seem one will blink until it no longer has to surrender draft pick compensation for adding the qualifying offer recipient.
If the Rays were to sign Kimbrel prior to the draft, though, they’d have to part with their third-highest pick. On paper, that’s the smallest penalty available to clubs, but in the Rays’ case, it would mean losing the valuable 39th overall choice. Of course, the financial ramifications accompanying a Kimbrel signing also seem to stand in the way of a union with Tampa Bay. The Rays own the majors’ lowest 40-man payroll at just north of a paltry $53MM, so there should be room for Kimbrel or another pricey pickup(s) in theory. The franchise has never been known for spending, however, and Kimbrel may land a multiyear deal that would add a sizable commitment to its limited payroll beyond this season.
This is actually funny, but I wish all good luck!
Kimbrel and Kuechel should be used as examples of how not to strategize your free agency.
Look at Greg Holland last year.. turned down a QO and ended up signing a one-year deal with the Cardinals in late-March.
Holland performed so poorly that he lost the closers job and ended up getting cut by the Cards. He came around after being picked up by the Nats but ended up signing a very small one-year deal with the Diamondbacks this year, trying to re-establish his value.
I imagine that missing spring training and trying to rush back were both major factors for Holland. He bet on himself and lost. Hopefully Kimbrel and Keuchel do better.
Kimbrel is a good case study on early-career extensions. No one ever loses when they guarantee themselves tens of millions of dollars, but I believe he would’ve became a free agent two years ago during the free agency year(s) where Chapman, Jansen, and Melancon all received 60-90 million. Kimbrel would’ve had a much better case (and I’ll bet would’ve gotten) a $100 million deal had he been a free agent when those contracts were being dished out to relievers.
And Padres star
Good call. Added.
The Braves have lost 12 of their past 13 postseason series and just got swept by the Dodgers this past week. They have 2 options. Should they sit tight with what they currently have and hope for the best OR should they make some impactful moves? What’s the play?
They are making impactful moves – even if it’s not the moves fans want – Biddle, Minter, Sabotka all sent to AAA while rescuing Tomlin, Blevins. Both have helped so far, though more is needed. Personally, not a lot is available right now and Kimbrel is only ~60 IP. Shouldn’t be a reaction to getting swept by the NL’s best team on the road.
Braves have no interest in signing Kimbrel till after the draft, after the draft happens the Braves will be in play.
I don’t know what Kimbrel is looking for, but at this point he should take what he can get and start pitching. Maybe a 1 year with a player option could work for both parties. it would give him a bit of financial insurance for 2020, but would also give him an opportunity for a redo this offseason should he pitch well. All I know is the longer he sits the less he gets, and the and more time he will need to get into game shape. Atlanta would make a lot of sense with their close situation being such a mess. The Redsox as well.
Why would it take longer to get in game shape in a month than it would now? That makes no sense.
Don’t think Kimbrel will “settle” for a 1 year with an option at this point….that ship sailed long ago if there ever was a chance he might do that which he has stated over and over again in his contract demands….obviously cash and time is what’s driving his motor and that ain’t gonna be a 1 year deal!
He’ll take a one year prorated deal at the qualifying offer level he passed up, then hit free agency next year without draft pick compensation tied to him. Just pitching for the stretch run will probably also only help his value next year.
Kimbrel better land in Atlanta or Braves fans will go crazy!
With his best years behind him. it is time for the Met’s to step in and lock him up for multiple years.
The Rays typically don’t sign big name players and they have had some success. Now is an opportunity for them to take that next step toward winning a title. The Yankees are knocking on the door and have a bunch of excellent players coming back from injury. They will be in it til the end. The Red Sox are starting to get back from their vacation. The division is going to get much tougher here on out. They need to add some reinforcements. If they sign Kimbrel they can ease him into the closer role with all the talent they have. This would give them a shutdown bullpen, the kind the Royals had. They have room in their payroll for a signing like this.
They would still be able to add a big bat on the bench down the line if they need it. Veteran leadership is crucial in a pennant run. They could add a Melky Cabrera or a Josh Donaldson or Jose Iglesias to their mix for one season… This is the year they need to do things a little different.
I would bet money he lands with Braves the day after the June draft.
I think the braves are the favorites to get him. They need him desperately and I believe they will throw some major money at him.
I think the Rays need to do something to take that next step toward winning a title. A shut down closer would be a huge step. Maybe a deal with the Nationals to bring in Rendon. A .300 hitting 3B that can bat cleanup. He’s a free agent this year and the Nationals don’t look very good. The Rays have plenty of prospects to make any deal possible.
Wouldn’t Keuchel be more beneficial for TB losing Glasnow for 1.5 months?
You are absolutely CLUELESS if you think there’s even a chance that the Nats are going to trade Rendon. They’re going to extend him, not get rid of him
First clue he won’t stay with the Nationals is he’s still unsigned. Second clue is his agent is Scott Boras. Third clue is Nationals are a .500 team right now and could lose him for a meaningless draft pick.
@Melchez it will depend on if they learned their lesson with Harper last year.
What lesson? That they just weren’t gonna pay a guy superstar money who isn’t a consistent enough performer to justify it? Because they didn’t, they have the money to possibly keep Rendon.
@Rondon the lesson was they should have traded him at the deadline.
If the draft pick is meaningless, than why is Kimbrel and Keuchel not signed.
I consider this offseason for the braves one of the biggest failures in baseball history. Not because the moves they made were bad, but because they didn’t make the right moves to take a team in the brink of potential greatest to the next level. Braves have a really good baseball team, but not elite. To many glaring weaknesses. The bullpen was the biggest need this offseason without a question. There wasn’t remotely any other need as big as the bullpen and not a single move was made. Kimbrel would be nice, but his asking price was far too much, which I get. But this FA market was flooded with elite bullpen talent that other teams got a very reasonable contracts. For the cost of donaldsons contract, we could have dramatically improved our bullpen.
What finally makes this a historically bad offseason is the management kept saying they had financial flexibility, got fans excited for more to come, and made outstanding revenue. But made no moves that truly made the team better. Then as the season started and even spring training showed, our bullpen was a train wreck … absolutely brutal and still is. Proving that the needs we had in the offseason were in fact desperate needs.
Mgmt continues to do nothing with a team that’s ready to take the next step. I think kimbrel rumored asking price is very reasonable right now, even at the expense of a draft pick. The excitement it would bring the fans would more than enough cover Kimbrel’s cost. Idk what they are waiting for. Spend a little money, make a lot in this situation. Driving me up a wall
That’s my soap box today…. plz play the small violins …
Baseball history? Those aren’t small violins. And thats a huge, make that ‘enormous’, overstatement. If anyone was looking last year – clearly looking – the game plan this offseason was to: 1) get a power hitting bat as everyone and their mother was screaming bloody murder of Markakis hitting 4th, 2) strengthened the bench as the Dodgers exposed this during the playoffs big time and 3) allow all the kids to make a step up to be more impactful and a strength of the team which everyone – both in and out of baseball – rave about. Why are you going to add more pitching if there is a ton who are supposedly ‘ready’ to either be the front 5 or spots elsewhere. The fact is the kids that are pitching, with the exception of Max and Soroka, ALL need to look in the mirror and step up. All of them – starting with Folty who is proving to have issues on the mental side of the game. That is the story that needs to be talked about that nobody is for some reason. It’s time. Why isn’t the Kyle Davis or the Luiz Gohara of the world not making bigger strides? There are like 6 names I can think of right now that are making me ask, “Why aren’t they forcing AA to trade Gausman or Teheran right now to open up a spot??” THAT is the issue. Not the offseason. Everyone – including the Nats – has pen issues – there is clearly a supply / demand imbalance of solid veteran performers and the role is volatile to begin with. You probably would have been screaming at the Braves front office for them to spend the 2/$25 deal the Cards did – and with the 5+ era they are now having buyers remorse.
Get over it, man. I feel sorry for your first girlfriend.
Anybody who believes Topkin believes in the Easter Bunny…..
Kimbrell doesn’t even make sense. Kuechel does, especially with the Glassnow situation. But Alvarado/Castillo/Pagan have proven more than worthy and up to the task.
And yes, the Sox are “back from their vacation”. I said they’d be in first by Memorial Day; now it appears it won’t be that long.
Typical Bob lol
Yup.. Red Sox had a bit of World Series Winner’s hangover… They seem to have taken a few aspirin and a nap.. and are now crushing 5, 6 and 7 run innings on a regular basis
It would be nice to have Kimbrel back but the luxury tax implications are just too severe.
Kimbrel to the rays would be dangerous , they already have a good back end of the bullpen. If they add Kimbrel, it will increase their odds of winning the al east. They still have prospects to trade if they want a Bumgarner or another starter.
What kind of contract do you think they would sign?
Kimbrel (8, 15, 15, 15, 15)? 5 year 68mil? A little less than what Chapman signed for. I believe Chapman was a year younger… or two. But he signed a 5 year 86 mil. Their stats are very similar.
Dodgers should sign him to help their crap pen. He has experience and can lengthen the pen for sods like Baez et al. and share time with Jansen. .
Dodgers need him the bullpen is a mess.
And Friedmans arrogance and bad judgment (see Joe Kelly) has gotten them there. LA will never win W.S. with that crap pen.
Still like this potential move for the Rays. Since Kimbrel and Keuchel’s markets fell out, I liked either one for the Rays. Especially if they can get them on a 3/$45mm type of deal. Now that they are going to wait for the draft to pass, I say offer both the same deal and see if either one jumps. The Rays should have the payroll space and they have the need for both.
I hope they do add both, I really wanted the phillies to get either one but they are 17 mill left before the luxury tax. The rays would be a sneaky pick for both. plus it would hold off the red sox and yankees imo.
Kimbrel won’t be a Ray lol. He’s way too expensive unless he does a one year deal after the draft and Tampa really believes it has a shot beating Boston and New York (It doesn’t)
the rays are still in first place, them adding kimbrel would give them a lights out bullpen. They would still have money to spend on Keuchel as well.
Boston got off to a very slow start and New York has had more injuries than a mash unit and yet both teams are now at Tampa’s heels. Trust me they are about to runaway and hide.
Im rooting for the underdog team in the al east this year, they are no joke. They won 90 games last year and are better this year. Hopefully Glasnow isn’t out for long.
Please point to me all the other times TB has “runaway and hide”?
They are better than both those hype train media frenzied teams by a long, long way and are about to get better. Wouldn’t Kimbrel enjoy knocking out the cheapskate Red Sox who wouldnt pay him even though they didn’t even replace him with an elite closer?
Stats don’t lie. Talk about the standings all you won’t, they’re in a little slump but just got back their best hitter and I’m another month will get back another huge hitter along with above average Duffy back soon. They are top 3 in Baseball in all pitching categories, that’s not by coincidence.
MLB. com has the Rays with the 40th pick.
Was hoping the cheap lol Mets would sign him as insurance for closer role.
Actually the team to watch in the east is the Nats. They could not afford to both give up a draft pick AND go over the luxury tax threshold with the need to restock the farm, but once the draft pick goes away the Nats may make a multi year offer to Kimbrel and pay the price for going over the tax limit. This is not worth it unless the Nats decide to sign Kimbrel long term,
another consideration is the impending settlement with MASN that will provide a multimillion dollar infusion to the National’s coffers. This means the Nats will not have to negotiate deferred money in the future deals once the settlement is made.
In a way, all of us are keeping in touch with Craig Kimbrel.
Rays winning it all if they get Kimbrel. Quote me on this.
Strike Five.
Kimbrel & Alvardo at the back end of the bullpen thats dangerous.