The Twins “pushed hard” this week for closer Craig Kimbrel before he agreed to a three-year, $43MM contract with the Cubs on Wednesday, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic (subscription link). Minnesota’s offer was “competitive,” but the team was only willing to give Kimbrel two years, Hayes reports.
The Twins had been after Kimbrel dating back to the offseason, per Hayes. At that point, as the Twins sought to upgrade last year’s underwhelming bullpen, they came away with a few inexpensive relief acquisitions in Blake Parker, Ryne Harper and Mike Morin. While the unheralded Harper and Morin have been shockingly effective across a combined 35 innings, Parker has begun to fade after an encouraging start. The ex-Angel boasted a 1.04 ERA entering play May 28, but it’s all the way up to 3.74 through 21 2/3 frames after he allowed at least two earned runs in three of his past four appearances. Parker also yielded four home runs in that four-inning stretch, during which his already below-average velocity fell. With a 5.84 FIP, 7.06 K/9 against 3.32 BB/9, and a 21.7 percent home run-to-fly ball rate, Parker doesn’t look like a strong candidate to break out of his slump in a significant way.
Not only has Parker been unreliable of late, but most of the Twins’ other top relievers are sporting less favorable fielding-independent pitching numbers than their ERAs indicate. With those factors in mind and Kimbrel off the market, the bullpen figures to remain one of the Twins’ highest priorities leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. Speculatively, Shane Greene (Tigers), Ken Giles (Blue Jays), Alex Colome (White Sox), Mychal Givens (Orioles), Will Smith and Tony Watson (Giants) are some of the league’s relief trade candidates who could land on the Twins’ radar over the next several weeks.
As shown by their interest in Kimbrel and starter Dallas Keuchel, who signed with the Braves on Thursday, Twins executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine seem prepared to act aggressively this summer. Considering Minnesota’s an American League-best 41-20 and 10 1/2 games up in the AL Central, it’s no surprise management wants to boost the club’s World Series chances.
And where were the Phillies? Oh right they paid for that David Robertson guy instead.. I wonder how he’s turned out.
injured, because that happens some times.
As Brandon Morrow 🙁
Brandon Morrow was always gonna be a bum.
I mean, it’s not like Kimbrel has done better than Robertson this year
Different year, different scenario, same story. We twins fans are always told about how hard the FO tried to sign that major acquisition but we JUST came up short. I would have thought that battling for the best record in the league, having a near runaway lead in the division, and having a clear need would have changed that outcome, but obviously not.
The twins bullpen is mediocre and taxed. Twins don’t have that guy they trust to keep going and carry a complete game. Once that (stupid, fairly arbitrary) 100 pitch count is there, the relievers come in no matter the situation – and lately the relievers have been immediately giving up runs. They are going to have to stop this “we tried” mentality and pony up some money if they cash in and actually advance in the playoffs this year
Well said! They’ll get their relievers but it’s now going to cost them both money and prospects. Sucks.
Hey, they have a 10.5 game lead . I think the FO has made some solid decisions regarding their overall roster .. !! Throwing $$$$ at every issue does not guarantee success!!
They act like they are right up against the luxury tax.
Seems they have their own imaginary line that’s much lower…..
I am glad they didn’t pay big bucks for Kimbrel .. They will trade for someone or others to improve their BP without spending $$$$ which ruins their overall team payroll .
Pushed hard? By offering less $$ & years then other suitors? I don’t think that qualifies as pushing “Hard”.
That’s the twins mantra
Go get Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith from the Giants.
They lost out by making him an offer conducive to his current abilities, not his past.
I agree that is the smart thing too do but that isn’t how baseball is . You overpay by years to get the player or you sit on sidelines. Twins fans will either laugh at Cub fans when kimbrel struggles or curse twins management when he gets last out in World Series.
Yes, hoping he struggles with Cubs.
Sox still in the mix for the AL Central since Twins didn’t get him!
Yes, they’re still in contention for second in the ALC since the Twins didn’t get Kimbrel. That division was locked up in the first week by the Twins.
Salty as hell. Just because your white Sox will be 4th or 5th for the next 4 years. Doesn’t mean you need to troll
Still in the mix for AL Central? Put down your device and take your meds…your Sox rebuild will continue beyond the Cub’s next WS title.
All of a sudden 27 different teams all pushed hard. Nice way to act like you were in the hunt with zero risk of dropping a penny.
Two years really doesn’t work for Kimbrel. He’s either better off with one (or one half) and hope to show dominance, or three and lock down a lot of guaranteed money (even if he leaves some). In two years it’s questionable he could get a big score.
Considering Kimbral accepted less than Half his asking price, it seems he is not willing to bet on his “dominance” in the short term to max his opportunities. Do you really want your team paying top dollar for a reliever that is hedging his bet?
You could say the same thing for every single player in baseball who doesn’t sign a 1 year contract…
Based on what he wanted in the winter he wont be dominant? That’s what you’re saying. Making more money doesn’t make a player more dominant
He was asking for $100MM in the off season. He accepted $43 for half the years. If he thought he was going to be dominant, and that the QO is what prevented him from signing, he would have taken the short deal to get back to the market to get his full value w/o the QO. Instead, he has taken the $43MM, and when he returns to the market in 3 years, he will be looking at 1 year deals going forward, most likely. Doesn’t seem like he was willing to bet on himself. Why should anyone else bet on him?
He took half because the season is two months gone. Had no choice but to take off. The good thing is he isn’t a client of that sleezeball greedy Scott Boras. who would have demanded 250 mil from teams like he did with Arrieta
I know he’s been sucking hard lately, but I actually want the Twins to go after Givens. With a high 90’s sidearm fastball, Givens is definitely capable of putting up better numbers than he has up to his point, all he needs is a little help from Wes.
He sure looked dominant 2 night ago against the Rangers but hey, that’s the Rangers…..
The harsh reality for the Twins is that they have to significantly overpay to get FAs like Kimbrel. The Cubs signed him to a 3 year 42 mil deal, which means the Twins likely would’ve had to offer a 4 year deal at around 56-60 million. Minnesota just isn’t a place that players tend to chose due to geographic location. I would’ve loved to get Kimbrel for the rest of the year and would’ve been fine with an overpay this year for even 15-18 million, but 4 yrs and 56-60 would’ve been too large a commitment.
Well, the Twins made an offer that’s 1/2 what the Cubs made. Then apologists like you come along and talk about how the Twins would clearly have needed to offer much more than team “x” to sign a player. That’s a great argument except the Twins have NEVER signed a top free agent. Like, ever. Ever. Ever. They make “competitive” offers for years less and tens of millions of dollars less. Those aren’t “competitive.” Those are intentional underpays designed to pretend the Twins are trying.
The Cubs gave Kimbrel 3 years + a vesting option. So 3 years guaranteed, and a 4th year guarantee if he performs.
The Twins made a 2 year offer… and even that is really only a 1.5 year offer which only benefits the Twins, not Kimbrel. It’s not long enough to provide any security to Kimbrel, and he’s 2 years older at the end of the contract. It was a non-competitive offer somewhere in the 1/2 the dollar value and length the Cubs offered.
I’m sure the Twins felt their initial offer of 1 year at the pro-rated league minimum was also “competitive.”
I’m not an apologist by any means. The premis of my comments are as follows;
1- I wouldn’t want to offer many FAs more than they’re worth. So a larger or longer commitment than other clubs offers are no good.
And…
2- An identical deal wouldn’t convince the majority of free agents to choose Minny over most other teams, so that’s not an option.
The options left for the Twins is to offer deals that are unique, which typically aren’t accepted, or offering deals to players who are trying to recoup value on short deals.
Won’t get him because he is in the same division but Detroit’s Greene would be and is better than Kimbrel for a Twins fit.
Detroit traded Martin to Cleveland last year. Make an offer!
For you Twins fans who know the team well, what do they prize more: impact arms for this year, or solid bullpen pieces that help calm things down this year and give them controlled pieces this year and next? I’m asking because the Giants can go either way to help out the Twins. Yes, Will Smith would definitely be a big “add” for this season, but it would only be for this season given his FA status next year. Conversely, the Giants could also offer the Twins a package that had two of Watson, Dyson, and/or Moronta at a fraction of the cost of Kimbrel, and the Twins could control them for 2019 and 2020 (and longer with Moronta).
The question then is how much would the Twins be willing to give up to solidify the bullpen these next two years?
The Tigers finally got a good CL in Shane Greene but now he’s trade bait.
The Tigers usually have a closer. What they lack is depth. When Buck Farmer is being given leads to hold, no more evidence is needed. They can’t really send anyone down, though, as none of the AAA relievers are doing squat.
The Twins will thank their lucky stars they missed out on Kimgreed. He is going to be a BUST this year and from here on out.