The Atlanta Braves have reportedly reunited with veteran closer Craig Kimbrel. The Braves and Kimbrel have agreed to a minor-league contract for 2025, according to The Athletic. The deal will pay him $2 million should he crack the active roster.
Kimbrel, who turns 37 in late May, is coming off the worst season of his big-league career. With the Baltimore Orioles last season, he pitched to a 5.33 ERA with 30 unintentional walks in 52 ⅓ innings. Kimbrel logged 23 saves for the year, but also blew six opportunities.
While Kimbrel has been in decline for some time, earlier in his career he enjoyed one of the great peaks of any reliever in MLB history. Most of that peak came with the Braves, who first drafted and signed Kimbrel back in 2008. As a Brave from 2010-14, Kimbrel registered a sparkling 1.43 ERA with 186 saves and 476 strikeouts in 289 innings. He earned four All-Star selections with Atlanta and also notched that many top-10 finishes in the NL Cy Young vote.
For his career, Kimbrel earned nine All-Star nods and won a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2018.
To be sure, Kimbrel’s best days and perhaps even days of adequacy are behind him, but the reunion certainly gives Braves fans something to dream on.
Kimbrel is no sure thing to make the roster after he gets built up, but the Braves are in need of right-handed setup depth behind closer Raisel Iglesias.
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