Phillies is adding a closer distance already established. They are said to agree with Craig Kimbrel under a one-year, $10 million contract. Kimbrel is a SportsMeter customer.
Philadelphia will be Kimbrel’s seventh MLB team, who is entering his 14th season. He returned to the NL East, where he was arguably the sport’s best player from 2011-14 as a member of the Braves. Kimbrel still excelled after being assigned to the Padres and then the Red Sox. Dave Dombrowski was running baseball operations in Boston while Kimbrel was there for three consecutive All-Star seasons from 2016-18. Now they are reunited with Dombrowski the leader in charge in Philly.
Since leaving the Red Sox, Kimbrel has had ups and downs. He stayed with the freelance agency until June 2019 before securing a three-year commitment from the Cubs. That deal looks set to fall apart after he posted an even ERA of 6.00 in 41 appearances through the end of the 2020 campaign, but he looks as good as ever at the start of the third season. . The right-hander posted a 0.57 micro ERA across 31 2/3 innings in the first half of 2021, securing his eighth All-Star pick in the process. The Cubs took him to the Crosstown White Sox on a term deal that brought Nick Madrigal.
Kimbrel didn’t end the season so well, posting a 5.09 ERA for the Sox. Chicago exercised a $16 million option on his services for the 2022 season but shopped him most last winter. In the days leading up to Opening Day, they sent him to the Dodgers to exchange one for one for Pollock AJ. Kimbrel spent her 34-year-old campaigning in Los Angeles, giving solid numbers overall but showing some worrying signs in the long run.
While his first half ERA was a 4.35 walker, he beat more than a third of opponents during that time. The Dodgers relied on him as they got closer at the start of the year, but he started falling out of favor as the season dragged on. Kimbrel’s attack rate in the second half was 20.7%. His ERA registered at 3.10 thanks to a meager 0.227 average on balls against him. The Dodgers clearly had doubts about Kimbrel’s ability to maintain his fortunes. They removed him from the ninth inning in September and removed him from the roster entirely after game time.
That’s certainly not how Kimbrel or the team envisioned the season ending, but his 2022 campaign was hardly a disaster. He posted 3.75 ERA overall in 60 plays. His 27.7% strike rate and 12.1% spin rate are both slightly better than face value and he averages 95.8 MPH on his fast ball. He’s walking the ball at 10.8% high and giving up some hard knocks, but he still shows things that lack quality bats. While it’s not Kimbrel’s classic or even his 2021 production level, he’s shown enough to believe he’s still capable of playing well.
Kimbrel has made 22/27 saves this year. He now has 394 saves in his career, the most of any active player. Kimbrel will soon become the seventh pitcher in MLB history to hit 400 saves, and he’ll be on his way back to work in the ninth inning in Philadelphia. Players like Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez The former are considered the favorites in the house to finish the job, although each is more likely to take on more leveraged responsibilities in the seventh or eighth inning.
It’s a relatively low gamble for the Phils, matching the $10 million flyer they received Corey kneels final season. They will have to pay several million dollars more in taxes, as they are likely to exceed the luxury tax threshold for the second consecutive season. Philadelphia’s luxury tax commitments amount to about $251 million, according to calculations by Resource list. They are subject to a 30% tax on every dollar spent between $233 million and $253 million, so signing Kimbrel comes with an additional $3 million fee. It also brought them several million dollars against the second CBT threshold at $253 million. That would come with a 42% tax on overuse, with higher penalties in the event they exceed $273 million.
It’s unclear where owner John Middleton wanted to draw the line exactly, though the Phils had little reason to save much money after winning the pennant. Philadelphia has brought in Trea Turner and Taiwan Walker this winter, and Kimbrel joins Matt Strahm as supplemental relief. The Phils prepare for another fight with the Mets and Braves in the top NL East heavyweight, and they expect Kimbrel to have plenty of chances to win at the bottom end of the barn.
Ken Rosenthal of athletics First reported Kimbrel and the Phillies had agreed to a contract. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first company to report a guarantee of $10 million in one year.
