Craig Kimbrel is bound to become a Hall of Famer at the end of his career, and got to pitch for the team where it all started a few days ago. Unfortunately for Kimbrel, he was DFA’d following his scoreless inning by the Braves. The trade deadline is quickly approaching, and since the Pirates are looking to sell, they would be wise to take a chance on the veteran to get him some innings with the intention of getting his value up. At the very least, Kimbrel represents a chance to entice a buyer in a lost season.
Kimbrel has spent the majority of the season in Triple-A and has actually thrown pretty well. His ERA got down to 2.00 with a 2.44 FIP and a 11.50 K/9 across 18 innings. Even though he gave up two baserunners in his scoreless inning of work, the Braves were shockingly quick to move on from Kimbrel. Since they did, the Pirates should act fast to get him in Pittsburgh.
The Braves’ surprising decision with Craig Kimbrel gives the Pirates a perfect opportunity to add to bullpen.
The Pirates’ bullpen this season has been very inconsistent. They are finally getting success out of David Bednar and a few other veterans, but as a unit, things haven’t been great great. Adding Kimbrel would be a temporary fix to that group, though, as the main reasoning behind adding him would be to get some big-league innings under his belt so Pittsburgh can deal him to a contender.
The trade deadline is not until July 31, so the Pirates could very easily get Kimbrel innings instead of a struggling Kyle Nicolas or Ryan Borucki. Getting Kimbrel into low-leverage situations could help him add some value to his name, since he doesn’t really have any right now. It appears to be a seller’s market this year all around, so teams are going to get very desperate for bullpen help. That is exactly why getting Kimbrel big-league innings could help the Pirates get something back for him at the deadline.
It is really a low-risk, high-reward move for the organization. If he struggles, oh well, everyone else is, too. If he does well, trade him and get a prospect out of him. The prospect in return wouldn’t be that strong, but regardless, a lottery player is better than nothing in return.
Even if it doesn’t work out, the Pirates would also etch themselves into the record books, as Kimbrel will definitely make it to Cooperstown. Hopefully, if it comes down to the Pirates or retirement, Kimbrel would choose the Pirates. This may be the last opportunity for him to play in the big leagues again, since Atlanta really didn’t want anything to do with him.
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