After months of waiting, Craig Kimbrel is officially off the market. Unfortunately, he will be in the wrong shade of blue. The Braves balked at offering Kimbrel such a “lengthy” contract but were willing to pony up the money. Disappointing to see, and now he will be closing games in the Windy City for the Chicago Cubs.
The bullpen has gotten a boost from youngsters Sean Newcomb and Touki Toussaint. But there is no denying that the Braves need to add another reliever or two to compete for a World Series. The team will now have to play out the trade market to improve.
The perfect player the Braves should have an eye on? Detroit Tigers closer, Shane Greene.
Greene has been one of the most dominant closers in baseball this season, recording a minuscule 1.09 ERA in 25 appearances and has saved 19 games – good for the American League lead.
The Tigers are well below .500, and they would be foolish not to cash in on Greene’s value. Now is the perfect time to sell high and bolster their farm system. While the Tigers do have some exceptional young pitching in AA, they are a while away from competing again. The righties contract runs through 2021. Greene has had his ups and downs throughout his career and is now having his best season at age 30, coming off a year where he had 5.12 ERA. What good is a closer on a team that is not expected to win many games?
But from the Braves’ standpoint, you are looking for a boost. Bringing in Greene and shifting the other members of the bullpen inches the Braves towards contention overnight. The not so shiny side of things is, now that Kimbrel is off the market, they will have to give up prospects or Johan Camargo to acquire his services.
This is frustrating. But after seeing the Braves ignore the bullpen this offseason, at some point, you have to give up some trade chips and add the final piece of the puzzle. With all the international restrictions that are placed on the team, I would have written Craig a check and kept the farm intact. But the reality is this is the only route for the Braves to improve; which they must do if they want to be considered World Series contenders. And with the recent struggles of Kevin Gausman and Mike Foltynewicz, you have to wonder if the team will end up prioritizing a starter as well.
If Greene can continue what he has done in 2019, he could turn the Braves’ bullpen from a liability to a strength. It will likely take a slight overpay to make it happen, but Greene figures to have some of his past baggage baked into his value. Or so Braves Country will hope.