It seems very likely the Cubs will be trading Craig Kimbrel ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline later this month and one of the teams that continues to come up is the Red Sox.
Sure, they have Matt Barnes, but having two outstanding closers is never a bad thing and the Red Sox just took care of Barnes with a contract extension earlier this week.
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show Tuesday, MLB Network's Jon Heyman gave his thoughts on Kimbrel potentially returning to Boston.
“He has a great market and he’s going to be traded," he said. "The Cubs kind of signaled they were going to sell right at the beginning, even before the season when they traded [Yu] Darvish and they were surprising folks by being a contender. They were basically tied there with Milwaukee for a long time and then [they just lost it]. They are clearly not a contender at this point and that was the intention all along of management -- to sell. So, they are going to sell and the Red Sox and any other team that’s in the race is going to be interested in Craig Kimbrel. His market is going to be huge.
“Now, he’s got this year, next year he has a team option for $15 million and he’s regained his form. He lost it there for a year-and-a-half or so, but he’s back pitching the way he did before — maybe not the 100 miles per hour, but getting guys out the same way. Huge market for Kimbrel and any contending team is going to be interested in a closer.
“[It’s nice] to have a good closer as the Red Sox do. If you have two great closers you are in great shape and you have the eighth and ninth locked down. That’s Milwaukee’s advantage. That is why I like Milwaukee in that division. They have two great relievers, obviously [Josh] Hader and [Devin] Williams. Big advantage to having two great ones.”
In 33 games this year, Kimbrel has a 0.57 ERA and 20 saves.