The time until baseball officially begins is quickly ticking away, and if Craig Kimbrel wants to play this season he's going to need to take a giant step down from the price he asked for at the start of free agency.
It's unrealistic. And unpopular. And maybe unpopular because it's so unrealistic. But a short-term deal between the Cubs and Kimbrel makes a lot of sense if that's what the bearded righty has to settle for.
- Obviously, the Cubs have injuries right now to key guys in their bullpen (Strop and Morrow). Although he's coming off a season where he wasn't as dominant as in the past, Kimbrel is one of the best relievers in the MLB so if you have the opportunity to sign him, you sign him, right?
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Per Bleacher Nation, he has the most WAR among relief pitchers since 2010.
- He's pitched well at Wrigley Field in his career: 1.42 ERA in seven career games; nine strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched; five saves
- He's pitched well against NL Central opponents:
- He's already 30 years old and is coming off one of the worst statistical seasons of his career. The 1.5 WAR he posted last season was just 22nd among qualified relievers, his FIP was the worst of his career, his K/9 were below his career average, and his BB/9 were above his career average. His fastball velocity dipped by over 1 MPH between 2017 and 2018 (batting average against on his fastball was .174 in 2018 and .134 in 2017).
- He's also coming off a season where he pitched 10.2 innings in the postseason, accumulating a 5.91 ERA in nine games.