Craig Kimbrel is one of the greatest closers in baseball history, and he reportedly wants to be paid like it.
The free agent pitcher is a free agent this winter, and while we still don’t know what he seeks in terms of dollars, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Friday that the flame-throwing right-hander is asking for a six-year contract.
Of course, just because Kimbrel is asking for a six-year deal doesn’t mean he’ll actually get it. It’s most likely just a negotiation tactic from which he’ll likely have to come down at least a year, perhaps in exchange for more money per season. We don’t know much else, because there’s not much in the way of reported offers for the 30-year-old yet.
But if Kimbrel actually were to land a six-year pact, it would be an unprecedented deal for a closer. As it stands, no closer has a contract for more than five years.
Here are the biggest closer contracts right now:
Aroldis Chapman (Yankees): five years, $86 million
Kenley Jansen (Dodgers): five years, $80 million
Mark Melancon (Giants): four years, $62 million
Wade Davis (Rockies): three years (with vesting option), $52 million
(It’s also worth noting Sean Doolittle signed a five-year contract with the Oakland Athletics worth $10.5 million before being traded to the Washington Nationals.)
The Red Sox did extend a qualifying offer to Kimbrel (one year, $17.9 million) that the closer rejected. That’s not surprising, as Kimbrel is taking this chance to cash in on the biggest contract of his career.
Kimbrel made $13 million last season, so we can only imagine he’s looking for a higher annual value for this contract. So maybe $15 million per season? Considering every high-end player wants to reset the market for his position, a six-year, $90 million contract for Kimbrel would set a new standard for closers, as it would be the longest and richest deal ever handed to a player at that position.
That’s all speculation, though. Maybe Kimbrel is aiming even higher. Maybe he wants $100 million; who among us doesn’t want $100 million? And perhaps he’d be willing to “settle” for fewer years and more money per season.
One thing is clear: Anyone wanting to sign the closer of the defending World Series champion is going to have to pony up in historic fashion to lock him down.
