I know I’m a little late, per usual, but I have been thinking about it since I read it a few days ago. Baseball nerd, Jon Morosi, who is an MLB Insider AKA reporter for MLB Network and MLB.com, came out with an article April 16th —-https://www.mlb.com/news/craig-kimbrel-dallas-keuchel-may-suit-brewers—- there’s the link, talking about how the Brewers and Braves still being interested in both Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel. I’m not here to talk about Dallas Keuchel, I wish him the best of luck though. I’m here to discuss Craig Kimbrel, former Atlanta Braves great.
What got me thinking about this is ironically, Braves former closer Arodys Vizcaino, announced he would be under going right shoulder surgery that will unfortunately end his season. The Braves bullpen needs help, currently 15th in baseball with a 4.44 ERA and have walked the most in baseball the moment with 82 walks. The pitching needs help and it’s evident. Losing their closer is not something the Braves planned on happening, obvioulsy, especially this early and ESPECIALLY to a guy that had an ERA of 2.11 ERA and came back strong towards the end of the season when the Braves needed him most.
If this wasn’t the writing on the wall then I need a damn black light to see the writing because once Vizcaino went on the IL, it was like the biggest and brightest light bulb went off. It’s like a run way at night except the plane is Kimbrel and he is landing in fucking Atlanta. The guy made his career in Atlanta. His legacy started in Atlanta. It was meant to be. After his little hiatus of hanging out in San Diego for a year and then doing some stuff in Boston for three years, it’s a storybook ending to his career. Who knows how long he will pitch for but fuck, he’s currently 30 years old and a nice 3-5 year deal would hopefully hold him over until his next big-ticket which could be the final one that sends his career off into the sunset. The reason for him not being with a team is simple though; money.
Kimbrel, and his annoying agent Scott Boras, have already came out and said he wants a five-year deal for the same amount per year or more than what the Rockies signed Wade Davis for (3 years $52 million) and what the Yankees signed Zach Britton for (3 years $39 million). However, recently it was reported by Jon Heyman of MLB Network, that teams interested believe that Kimbrel would be willing to accept a three-year deal. It makes sense with a lot of teams needing bullpen help. Obviously teams don’t see eye to eye with Kimbrel and his agent on some things but the asking price is not out of this world. Let’s look a little at his baseball resume and why his asking price is so high:
- Five seasons of 40+ saves– one with 39– led the league in saves four seasons in a row
- Career ERA of 1.91
- Career 14.7 SO/9
- 7x All-star
- Rookie of the Year
- Reliever of the Year in both American League and National League
- 2018 World Series
So yes, the man probably deserves to get paid. Not to mention he has 333 career saves and has three times struck out over 100+ batters. In a time where the market for baseball players is crazy, you would think that Kimbrel would have seen his money by now. Owners and General Managers for some reason are not feelin spending that money on a guy who would ideally only pitch about 70 innings AT THE MOST. When you think about it like that then it starts to make a little bit of sense. Eventually Kimbrel will see his money and with a Braves team down a closer, now is the time. This could make A.J. Minter the set-up man and the Braves will then have a more solidified bullpen with the likes of Dan Winkler, Chad Sobotka, Touki Toussaint, and Jesse Biddle asked to stop the bleeding a little bit more and take off the pressure just a tad.
Things happen for a reason. It’s obvious i talked to the reasoning God last night and he agreed with me. Arodys Vizcaino getting hurt was sadly supposed to happen for Kimbrel to get back in Atlanta. I call it as i see it and I see this so I’m not calling this out. Kimbrel will be an Atlanta Brave. If he is not, then I was wrong which doesn’t happen a lot. I don’t want to take the L on this one, but when it happens, NL East watch out, all of baseball watch out because the Atlanta Braves would then almost be a shoo in for ball games when Kimbrel takes the ball with them winning. Until then, A.J. Minter will continue to ball out and soak up as many save chances as possible. Let’s go Braves baby!
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Scott Boras is bad for baseball. You always hear about how he drives a hard bargain and gets his players a lot of money..blah blah blah. But seriously, both Dallas and Kimbrel both don’t have jobs plus Gio Gonzales just fired Boras because all he was able to muster was a minor-league deal with the Yanks. I would say a majority of MLB players do care about the money but, most importantly, they just want to play baseball. Do you think Dallas and Kimbrel are having fun right now just twiddling their thumbs? Do you think they are hanging out and finger-popping each others assholes? Get Boras outta here.
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I’m not a fan of Scott Boras as well. I think when players aren’t greedy, he’s their greed almost. I agree and disagree with the fact that they want to just play baseball. Yes, they all do want to play baseball EXCEPT this is their JOB and they have played baseball their whole lives, kinda for free but not really, and if they believe they’re just as good as their buddy sitting next to them who just signed a nice ticket for $5 million, best believe that dude sitting next to him is gonna want a piece of that money. But, ultimately they all want to play the sport they love and one of the only things that has given them purpose for a long time in their lives. Kimbrel and Keuchel have both made enough money to hold themselves over a few lifetimes, but they want to get PAID the money they deserve. Building on that, i think it is a bit fucking ridiculous that they can’t settle for a few mil less a year. BUT, when guys like Wade Davis sign for $53 million and Kimbrel hasn’t gottena contract like that yet, i understand where he is coming from.
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