With Craig Kimbrel signing with the Chicago Cubs, we look at where the Atlanta Braves could go now for bullpen help.
It still hasn’t sunk in that the Atlanta Braves failed to sign Craig Kimbrel. I honestly felt all along that he was destined to be in a Braves uniform again.
But, I will say that I never thought Kimbrel would get the deal that he ended up getting with the Chicago Cubs.
I thought the Braves would be able to get him at a discounted price of maybe two years and $30 million.
But the Cubs gave him that third year AND an option year after that with a guaranteed $43 million.
Now, I’m not saying the Atlanta Braves shouldn’t have done that same deal. I think Kimbrel is worth every penny and the Braves should have ponied up to sign him.
But all indications are that the Atlanta Braves were not comfortable giving him that long of a contract. They wanted him on a one or two-year deal.
But I digress. What’s done is done, and the Atlanta Braves will have to look for other ways to improve their bullpen.
While they’ve performed much better lately and seem to have settled down, the bullpen still has an ERA of 4.25, which ranks 14th in the league.
With as good as these guys have been lately, I don’t think the Atlanta Braves can win the division — or have a chance in the postseason – with Luke Jackson, Dan Winkler, and Jacob Webb anchoring your bullpen.
At some point, the front office is going to have to make a couple of trades to get some dependable veterans for the backend of the bullpen.