Remember Craig Kimbrel? Seven-time All-Star closer, big bushy beard, last seen with the Red Sox before vanishing into perpetual free agency? In all likelihood, these are his last days as an unwanted man.
As of midnight Sunday, the draft pick compensation tied to Kimbrel (via the qualifying offer he received from Boston) expired. As such, the final barrier to the 31-year-old reliever signing with a team vanished, and with it will come the end of Kimbrel’s bizarre free agency—one that lasted far longer than it should have. Yet that league-wide intransigence to give him a home could also create a busy market for him, as virtually every contender could use relief help, and unlike any trade deadline additions, all he’ll cost is money.