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Craig Kimbrel finally has a new home.
The Network and the Chicago Cubs have signed a three-year, $ 43 million contract, confirmed ESPN, ending the creation of a seven-month open sales contract for one of the best baseball baseball guns. Athletic was the first to report the agreement. The MLB network first reported the financial terms.
Kimbrel will earn $ 10 million this season and $ 16 million in 2020 and 2021. A buyout of $ 1 million for a club / acquisition option is being considered for the fourth year.
Earlier Wednesday, Cubs president Theo Epstein said his team was interested in Kimbrel.
"There are usually no free agents of fashionable quality at this time of year.All the guys who are there, we will certainly do due diligence and see if it makes sense, "said Epstein.
Kimbrel will report to the Cubs for his physical match on Thursday and is expected to be ready to start before June 20, sources told Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Kimbrel fulfills a position of need for Chicago. Cubs' records have been uneven this season, recording 11 saves, the third among the largest.
Kimbrel will enter the ninth inning when Pedro Strop is closer, although Strop has also missed the boat with injuries.
The financial means to sign Kimbrel could have come from an unlikely place, veteran Ben Zobrist having left the team for personal reasons in May and having been placed on the list of restrictions. Zobrist was to earn $ 12.5 million in the last year of his four-year contract.
"There are always strangers who can affect your financial situation during the season," said Epstein. "This year, in particular, there have been unexpected variables that could possibly give us a little more flexibility than we would have imagined."
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Kimbrel, a seven-time star, has occasionally battled the Boston Red Sox in 2018, but finished the regular season with 42 saves, a 2.74 inning and 96 strikeouts in 62.
Kimbrel, 31, has a career-high average of 1.91 – the lowest of all MLB history players with 300 career shots. He made 333 saves – the youngest pitcher in the history of the MLB, with 300 saves – and 868 strikeouts in 532⅔. In addition, his 14.7 withdrawal ratio in nine innings is the best among all throwers in league history with at least 500 career heats.
The right-handed southpaw had a difficult time for the Red Sox in the AL League playoff and division series. In six and a half innings, Kimbrel made six hits and five points, hit two batters, took six goals and pulled eight. He had an EPR rate of 7.11 and his strike rate went from 62% to 48%. He charged the bases twice in the ninth inning.
Kimbrel seemed to turn the tide in the ninth round of the ALCS 'fifth game against the Houston Astros, giving up no shots and hitting two for a decisive stoppage in the series.
After the match, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Kimbrel had switched his pitch and the problem had been solved. Still, instead of using Kimbrel to lock the last round of the World Series deciding game, Cora has gone Chris Sale.
Kimbrel, a NHL rookie of the year in 2011, led the NL backups in his first four seasons with the Atlanta Braves and signed a $ 42 million four-year contract before the 2014 season. On the eve of the 2015 season, he was traded to the San Diego Padres. In 2016, he traded Kimbrel against the Red Sox – with whom he had his best season in 2017, before falling slightly in 2018.
Jeff Passan of ESPN contributed to this report.
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