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Boston Red Sox: It’s time to bring back Craig Kimbrel

By Oliver Gold

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09: Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after beating the New York Yankees to win Game Four American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on October 09, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09: Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after beating the New York Yankees to win Game Four American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on October 09, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Even though pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training, Craig Kimbrel remains unsigned. It’s time for the Boston Red Sox to finally bring him back.

The Boston Red Sox have not had a great offseason.

The Red Sox failed to resign any of their core guys and lost some contributors to the 2018 championship team. Joe Kelly, Ian Kinsler, and Drew Pomeranz all signed elsewhere while Craig Kimbrel and Brandon Phillips remain free agents. Boston was able to bring back Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce, two of the postseason heroes, but those were the only notable moves the Red Sox made this winter.

Boston did not make any notable trades and saw their rivals, the New York Yankees, get much better.

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After winning 100 games in 2018, the Yankees signed Adam Ottavino, DJ LeMahieu, and Troy Tulowitzki while also trading for James Paxton. New York was also able to resign Zack Britton and J.A. Happ.

As of now, the Yankees’ bullpen is miles better than Boston’s. Currently, the Red Sox best relievers are Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, Steven Wright, Bobby Poyner, Hector Velazquez, and Brian Johnson. The ERA of those relievers combined in 2018 was 3.43. The Yankees best relievers are Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green, Jonathan Holder, and Tommy Kahnle. Those relievers had a combined ERA of 3.01 in 2018. Although the ERA difference doesn’t seem large, the Yankees bullpen has much more experience and have had more success throughout their careers.

Many expected the Red Sox to sign or trade for a reliever after Kelly signed with the Dodgers, but the bullpen hasn’t upgraded at all. Kelly and Kimbrel pitched a combined 22 innings in the postseason and 128 innings in the regular season. The Red Sox do not have many other options within their system currently who can make up for all those innings.

Kimbrel must be resigned

The Boston Red Sox have been fighting it all offseason long, but there is no other choice than to resign Craig Kimbrel now. Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes simply do not have the experience to be the closer for the defending champions.

The fact that the New York Yankees improved their bullpen should also be concerning for the Red Sox. The Red Sox and Yankees could face each other in the playoffs again this season, and if a game comes down to the late innings, the Yankees will have the edge.

Kimbrel is still an elite option at closer. Although he struggled in the postseason, he was still an all-star for the third season in a row and for the seventh time in the last eight years in 2018. The 30-year-old had a 2.74 ERA while converting on 42 of 47 saves in 2018. In 2017, he was spectacular. He finished sixth in Cy Young voting after going 5-0 with a 1.43 ERA while converting 35 of 39 saves.

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Kimbrel was shaky in the 2018 postseason, but he still converted on all his saves. In his career, he has converted on all seven of his save opportunities in the postseason, six of those coming last year. His career postseason ERA is 3.92.

The Red Sox bullpen was terrific in the 2018 postseason, but the Red Sox do not have much organizational depth. Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, and Craig Kimbrel were the four guys the Red Sox used out of the bullpen for the majority of the postseason and were by far the four best options Boston had. Nathan Eovaldi was used out of the bullpen but will likely remain a starter in 2019.

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Workman struggled in his only appearance and Hembree only pitched four innings.

One of those four guys is already off the team. Losing two of them would be a major blow.

Kimbrel himself may not have anywhere else to go. Many teams already have their closers set and don’t want to spend the money on the accomplished closer. It makes more sense now than ever for the two sides to agree to a deal.

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