Craig Kimbrel has officially landed with his ninth different MLB team.
The veteran reliever Kimbrel has agreed to a deal with the Texas Rangers, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Tuesday. Kimbrel and the Rangers have come to terms on a minor-league contract, Rosenthal adds.
Now 37 years old, Kimbrel is one of baseball’s most decorated relievers as a nine-time All-Star and a four-time NL saves leader. Kimbrel is also one of only eight members of the 400-save club and won a World Series as a member of the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
Earlier this week, Kimbrel was involved in a bizarre saga with the Atlanta Braves, the team whom he first began his MLB career with. Kimbrel reunited with the Braves on a minor-league deal over the offseason and looked excellent in Double-A and Triple-A action this year, posting a 2.00 ERA over 18 combined appearances.
The right-hander Kimbrel was ultimately called up to the major league roster by the Braves for their game on June 6 (during which Kimbrel threw a scoreless seventh inning). But then the very next day, Atlanta bafflingly decided to designate Kimbrel for assignment. He then elected free agency after getting DFA’d.
As for the Rangers, they are a very underwhelming 31-35 this season and have not gotten much out of their bullpen (especially with fellow righty Josh Sborz still on IL recovering from offseason shoulder surgery). While Kimbrel was largely awful during his last full season of MLB work with the Baltimore Orioles in 2024, he should get a chance to be a part of the big-league roster in Texas before long.
