According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Braves have inked nine-time All-Star Craig Kimbrel to a minor-league contract.
Free-agent reliever Craig Kimbrel heading back to where he started. In agreement with Braves on minor-league deal, source tells @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 18, 2025
Of course, Craig Kimbrel needs no introduction to Braves Country. He’s one of the best closers of the last 20 years, and it all began in Atlanta, when he won National League Rookie of the Year in 2011. Kimbrel would go onto make four straight All-Star appearances for the Braves in what were by far the most fruitful years of his career before being dealt to the San Diego Padres.
After a year with the Padres, Kimbrel signed a massive deal with the Red Sox, where he made three more All-Star teams and helped Boston to a World Series alongside Chris Sale. Kimbrel’s last All-Star appearance came two years ago with the Phillies, but he followed it up with a dismal year in Baltimore, recording an unsightly 5.33 ERA over 57 appearances. However, his 4.18 FIP suggests he was subject to some shoddy luck, and he can still punch batters out with the best of them, striking out 31.5% of batters he faced in 2024.
Given how close we are to Opening Day, Kimbrel beginning the season with the Braves is probably a pipe dream, but this is an Atlanta bullpen that needs a lot of help. He will have every opportunity to stick with the Braves, and it would be a helluva story if he could put together one last stellar season in the place where it began at 37-years-old.
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Photo: Charles Brock/Icon Sportswire
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