{"id":14330,"date":"2025-06-10T16:30:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=14330"},"modified":"2025-06-10T16:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:30:28","slug":"rangers-sign-craig-kimbrel-minors-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2025\/06\/10\/rangers-sign-craig-kimbrel-minors-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers Sign Craig Kimbrel to Minors Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Rangers<\/a> have dipped into the market of relief pitching. They agreed to terms on a minor-league contract with right-hander Craig Kimbrel<\/a><\/strong> on Tuesday evening, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic<\/em><\/a>. He elected free agency on Monday after the Atlanta Braves<\/a> passed him through waivers unclaimed.<\/p>\n

Short Stay in Atlanta<\/h4>\n

The 37-year-old righty inked a minor-league deal with the Braves in March. He reported to Triple-A Gwinnett and tossed 18 innings with an earned run average of 2.00. His 12.9% walk rate was a little high but he also struck out 32.9% of batters faced. The Braves called him up last week but designated him for assignment after one appearance. He tossed one scoreless inning against the San Francisco Giants<\/a>, allowing one hit and surrendering one walk while striking out one.<\/p>\n

Kimbrel\u2019s track record is well known. He has had flashes of dominance in the sport at times and is currently fifth on the all-time saves list. The real question is whether he can still be an effective major league reliever, especially when protecting a late, narrow lead. His recent track record is shaky.<\/p>\n

He had an ERA north of 5.00 in both 2019 and 2020. He got that down to more reasonable levels for the 2021-23 seasons but struggled again last year. Kimbrel had a 2.80 ERA in the first half with the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> but was lit up for a 10.59 ERA in the second half. He was released before the season ended.<\/p>\n

Help Needed<\/h4>\n

The Rangers have been looking for affordable solutions for their bullpen for a long time. In the offseason, they wanted to upgrade the group but also wanted to avoid the competitive balance tax. They signed Chris Martin<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Hoby Milner<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Luke Jackson<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Jacob Webb<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Shawn Armstrong<\/a><\/strong>, and Luis Curvelo<\/a><\/strong> to major-league contracts. None of those deals are worth more than $5.5 million. They also acquired Robert Garcia<\/a><\/strong>, who has not yet qualified for arbitration, in the trade that sent Nathaniel Lowe<\/a><\/strong> to the Washington Nationals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They are currently running a four-man rotation with\u00a0Nathan Eovaldi<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on the injured list and\u00a0Kumar Rocker<\/a><\/strong> recently optioned to the minors. The Rangers can have Tyler Mahle<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Jack Leiter<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Patrick Corbin<\/a><\/strong>, and Jacob deGrom<\/a><\/strong> start the next four games but might need to do something creative by Saturday. Perhaps they will do a bullpen game or call up a minor leaguer for a spot start. Perhaps a fresh arm will be necessary in the next week, and Kimbrel could be the man for the job.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>