Cubs Sign Craig Kimbrel

Craig Kimbrel is headed to the Windy City. The Chicago Cubs are in agreement with the All-Star closer on a 3-year contract worth $45 million. The deal comes in June after Kimbrel failed to agree on a contract this offseason. With the 2019 MLB Draft in the books, Kimbrel was no longer attached to draft pick compensation. The Cubs have their new closer.

Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the news!

Kimbrel deal with #Cubs will be three years and close to $45M, sources tell The Athletic.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 6, 2019

Part of the motivation for the Cubs stems from the fact of the failures from the current group. Chicago has had a void at closer since Wade Davis departed a couple years ago. Chicago does rank 9th in baseball in bullpen ERA but still didn’t have a dependable closer. Kimbrel gives them just that.

Theo Epstein really did a nice job here. A $15 million per year price tag is not a bad price for Kimbrel. The former Sox closer has a career ERA of 1.91. He actually is on pace to be the greatest closer of all time. Kimbrel, 31, also has a WHIP of .920 and K/9 of 14.7. It’s unfortunate that a bad postseason really diminished his value.

It’s hard to be mad as a Sox fan. The Red Sox already have the highest payroll in the sport. Adding another big contract really wasn’t something that was realistic. The Red Sox already were penalized in a big way dropping 10 spots in the baseball draft. That’s not something you want to do every year.

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This is a big momentum shift in the NL Central. The Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers seem like they will be in a dog fight all year for the division. Adding a top–notch closer adds some juice in the clubhouse for the north siders.