Rays outbid for Craig Kimbrel by $4 million

Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsThe Rays had shown repeated interest in generational closer Craig Kimbrel, and were prepared to sign him once the loss of a draft pick was removed as a cost for doing so this week.

Instead, they were outbid by the Cubs, and thanks to Ken Rosenthal we now know by how much:

The Rays, the team with the lowest payroll in the majors, were the runner-up for Kimbrel, giving him a choice of two proposals, according to major-league sources. One of their offers was for two years, $31 million, while the other was for three years, $39 million, sources said.

The Cubs won Kimbrel over with a three-year, $43 million contract offer — a difference of $4 million — but it is worth…