Cubs sign top closer Kimbrel to contract
Three-year deal worth $43 million
The top closer on the last winter’s free agent market and possibly one of the best closers in baseball history might finally have a new team. According to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic, the Chicago Cubs and Craig Kimbrel have agreed to a contract pending a physical.
Kimbrel turned 31 last month, and while some warning flags exist, he remains on the short list of the best closers in the game.
He went 42 for 47 in save chances with the Red Sox last season, striking out 96 batters with a 2.74 ERA in 62⅓ innings. Opponents hit .146/.260/.305 against him with nearly three strikeouts for every two baserunners.
With 333 career saves, Kimbrel is currently 14th on the all-time saves list, and even after sitting out the beginning of 2019, he has a chance to climb into the top 10 on the saves leader board by season’s end. Kimbrel’s 333 career saves are the most ever for a pitcher through his age 30 season.
“It’s not a secret how good he is,” veteran reliever Pedro Strop said before Tuesday’s game. “If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best. We’re glad to have him here if they bring him here.”
Terms of Kimbrel’s contract with the Cubs are unknown and the team has not yet confirmed the signing.
Indians
Starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco was added to the non-baseball, medical condition injured list and will step away from baseball activities for the time being. Carrasco, who has been feeling lethargic for the past several weeks, has been diagnosed with a blood condition, according to the team. Details of the condition will be conveyed at the discretion of Carrasco and his family.
Blue Jays
Toronto has selected Florida high school pitcher Braden Halladay, a son of the late Roy Halladay, in the 32nd round of the baseball draft — the round matching his father’s Blue Jays uniform number. The younger Halladay is a right-hander like his famous father, who will be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame next month. Roy Halladay won 203 games and two Cy Young Awards over 16 big league seasons with the Blue Jays from 19982009 and Philadelphia Phillies from 2010-13. He died in November 2017 at age 40 when the private plane he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. His son still plans to attend Penn State.
Yankees
Slugger Aaron Judge could return by the time New York plays Boston June 29-30 in London. Judge, out since April 21 because of a strained left oblique, is working out at the team’s complex in Tampa, Fla. The Yankees and Red Sox play the first major league regular-season games in Europe when they meet at Olympic Stadium. “Don’t say I said ‘he’s going to be back by London,’” manager Aaron Boone said.
Elsewhere
Norwin graduate Connor Perry, who played center field for the Pitt Panthers, was drafted in the 28th round by the Detroit Tigers. This past season, Perry hit .289 with 13 doubles, 1 triple, 15 home runs and 35 RBIs. Quaker Valley graduate Tyler Garbee, who is playing for Mercyhurst, currently in the Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C., was picked in the 19th round by the Cincinnati Reds.