The Craig Kimbrel Free Agency Live Blog

Oh boy. No surprise here for anyone paying attention that the Cubs need a closer. Bad. Like very very badly.

And it’s also no surprise that they’re interested in Kimbrel as he is literally the best available closer on the planet. So Gaping Hole + Guy Who Can Fill It = Makes Sense For Everybody

Some other items:

+ The Cubs, as expected, waited until the draft to start pursuing Kimbrel. That way they wouldn’t have to give up a draft pick for signing him.

+ That’s the big delay behind Kimbrel – teams would give up their 1st round pick to sign him. It’s a huge shift in MLB to value the 1st round draft pick this high.

+ I think it says more that clubs would rather keep their 1st rounder than it says closers aren’t as valuable

+ Kimbrel originally wanted 6 years and $105m-ish which is the most ever for a closer. No word yet on how those numbers compare now in June.

+ The Cubs have $9m if Zobrist retires now. He’s on the restricted list meaning he won’t get paid. He was awful before he left for his divorce and the fact it’s been a month with no end in sight probably doesn’t mean good things.

+ If Zobrist is retired, or stays on the restricted list where he won’t get paid, that frees up cash and makes Kimbrel a slam dunk

+ Braves are out

+ Updates coming. Sources swirling.