When Felix Bautista underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023, the Baltimore Orioles knew they needed to address their bullpen for the 2024 season.
Without one of the best closers in the sport, ensuring they had a viable option to finish games for them became a top priority for Mike Elias.
He decided to hand Craig Kimbrel a one-year, $13 million deal to be their stopgap solution, which was the most lucrative contract the general manager had handed out to that point of his tenure.
Despite the poor ending to the right-hander's time with the Philadelphia Phillies, he was still coming off an All-Star season where he produced a 3.