The Craig Kimbrel era in Boston isn’t dead just yet.
Many assumed the free agent closer’s demand would be relatively high, thus earning him an enormous contract with Boston instead choosing to move on to different options. However, with Joe Kelly’s exodus to Los Angeles and a more limited than expected market for Kimbrel, a reunion with the Red Sox very much remains a possibility.
As Fancred’s Jon Heyman notes, however, it’s going to come down to money.
Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported Thursday night the Red Sox are waiting to see how the Kimbrel thing plays out before making an alternative move in a relatively robust reliever market. Pitchers like Kelly, Jeurys Familia and soon perhaps Andrew Miller are off the board already, but there are still a handful of options in the ongoing game of musical chairs.
It seemingly makes sense for the Red Sox to wait and see what happens with Kimbrel. ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote an interesting piece earlier in the week talking about the lack of suitors for the All-Star closer. There aren’t a ton of big-market clubs chasing big-money closers this winter, and smaller-market teams don’t need to make a splash in large part because of the aforementioned depth of the reliever class. So maybe that all leads to Kimbrel returning to Boston on terms that are a little more team-friendly than initially forecast.
Then again, there’s always a possibility that teams in the hunt for other marquee free agents like Bryce Harper or Manny Machado fall short on either and instead invest some of the money they had set aside for their top targets and use it on Kimbrel. Like, for instance, would the Philadelphia Phillies use their money on Kimbrel if they miss out on Machado?
But until the dominoes start falling, it looks as if the Red Sox will wait.
