Craig Kimbrel is an Oriole! | Ep. 119
A signing! The O's address the Félix Bautista-sized hole at the back of their bullpen with a big name, albeit a few years beyond his prime.
You’ve been waiting for the Orioles to do something, and here they are. Mike Elias has said for the last month that he wanted to add a veteran arm at the back of their bullpen, so he went and picked up a Hall of Famer to fill in for the injured Félix Bautista.
Now, is it the most exciting addition possible? No. As good as Kimbrel has been in his career, we can all agree that his best days are well and truly behind him. And he will almost certainly be a step down from what the Orioles got out of Bautista in 2023. If your hope was to recreate that sort of production, then it was likely Josh Hader or bust in this market
However, that’s not to say Kimbrel is completely washed. This is a guy that has shown he can still get out major league hitters, and he’s more than capable of getting a strikeout when you really need one. That skillset is something this Orioles bullpen sorely lacked with Bautista on the shelf.
The deal is for one year with an option. Kimbrel will make $12 million in 2024, and the option would pay him $13 million in 2025. If the Orioles don’t pick the option up, he’ll walk away with a $1 million buyout instead.
It’s a nice bit of business for both sides. Kimbrel gets a raise after a good year with the Phillies, and the O’s get a reliable veteran that comes with an insurance policy if they need help into 2025. Sure, the money is big for this version of Kimbrel, but this isn’t a team strapped for cash. There is plenty of room for them to spend even more between now and Opening Day.
On this episode, Tyler digs into the Kimbrel deal, how he fits the 2024 Orioles, and where the teams goes from here. He also does a quick recap of the team’s entire Winter Meetings. Spoiler: It was Kimbrel + very little else worth noting.
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