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Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos "made it clear" on Sunday that the Braves had a legitimate interest in free agent pitchers. Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchelaccording to Jim Bowden from SiriusXM. Unsurprisingly, however, the Braves do not seem inclined to sign Kimbrel or Keuchel before the June 3rd draft, when a team would not have to give up a choice for one of the two recipients of the eligible bid.
Kimbrel and Keuchel entered the free player category in November with two of the highest ranked players available. Well-paid long-term contracts seemed likely for both players at the time, but seven months later they did not have teams. This will probably not be the case for much longer given the ramifications of project choices that will soon expire, however.
For the Braves, the interest for Kimbrel is particularly noteworthy. The right-hander was a Braves rookie in 2008, who took him to the third round and then saw him become one of the best choices in the history of the franchise. Kimbrel was one of the best substitutes of all time in 2010-14 with Atlanta. He beat at 1.43 ERA / 1.52 FIP with 14.82 K / 9 as against 3.36 BB / 9 and accumulated 186 saves in 289. The Braves then ended their relationship with Kimbrel when they l & rsquo; traded to the Padres in April 2015. Kimbrel, 31, joined the Red Sox via trade in 2016 and remained a formidable late-game strength with the club until 2018. It was not as effective last season after a performance of another world in 2017.
On paper, Kimbrel would be a huge pickup for an Atlanta team whose office is not up to the job this season. Their rescue unit ranks 22nd in ERA's major tournaments and ranks 27th in nine innings, although it is getting closer Luke Jackson, Touki Toussaint, Sean Newcomb and Jacob Webb have been good to big. Otherwise, the Braves went through many veterans far less inspiring than Kimbrel. Arodys Vizcaino, Jesse Biddle and Jonny Venters – who are all now out of the organization – as well as Josh Tomlin, the just acquired Anthony Swarzak and Jerry Blevins are among the familiar names the Braves turned to search for solutions.
The Braves' rotation was better than their markers, ranking 10th in ERA and 18th in FAR, but the club seems to believe there is still a lot to be done. They could count on Keuchel, a 31-year-old southpaw who has already won the AL Cy Young (2015), for help. The former Astro would be the most established coach of the Atlanta staff, but it would be hard to stand out from the wonderful production. Mike Soroka and Max Fried have put forward. Kevin Gausman and Julio Tehran were helpful on their own, but the Braves struggled to find a fifth capable member for their rotation. Mike Foltynewicz went into 2019 in what looked like a low season, but it has been a weak link up until now. Newcomb, Toussaint, Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson also had difficulty on eight combined starts.
Of course, it should be noted that no one knows when Kimbrel or Keuchel will be ready to help a team. Even if they sign in next week, they will probably need some time to prepare to join their next club. Beyond that, there is the key question of how much they will cost. This can be especially important for the Braves, whose payroll has upset fans this season. They opened 2018 with an expenditure of more than $ 118 million, but despite their victory in the east of the NL last season, they are now in the $ 115 million range. Also, in February, neither Anthopoulos nor Braves' CEO, Terry McGuirk, seemed too enthusiastic to issue a large multi-year contract. However, McGuirk noted, "We still have an appreciable amount of dry powder ready for use."
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