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The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly signed right-handed reliever Craig Kimbrel to a major league contract, according to MLB insider/reporter Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Kimbrel, who’s 37 years old, posted a 0-2 record with a 6.00 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched for the New York Mets this season.

Kimbrel, who signed a minor league deal with the Mets this past offseason, refused to be optioned to the minor leagues by the Mets and, therefore, became a free agent. Kimbrel is a nine-time All-Star and won a World Series in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox as their everyday closer.
Kimbrel came up with the Atlanta Braves in 2010 and pitched six seasons for them, averaging a 1.43 ERA with 186 saves, and was considered one of the top relievers/closers in the entire sport during the 2010’s, and then was traded to the Padres in 2015 and then the Red Sox in 2016, where he still had years as a dominant reliever in the bullpen.

Kimbrel Has Been Up And Down Majors Last Several Years

While Kimbrel has not been nearly the same caliber pitcher in the last several seasons, during stints with the Phillies, Houston, Chicago Cubs, etc., if anybody can potentially fix him, it’s the Tampa Bay Rays. Kimbrel’s fastball velo has dipped to 93.6 mph, down from the high 90s and 100 mph in his heyday per Baseball Savant, but Kimbrel did have a brief stint of success in 2025 between Atlanta and Houston that could explain why the Rays are taking this flyer on him.

Kimbrel appeared in only 14 games between Atlanta and Houston in 2025, and his fastball velocity was still around 93 mph. Still, he had a 34.7 K percentage, and opposing batters weren’t hitting the ball particularly hard off of him with only an 86.8 mph average exit velocity against him, according to Baseball Savant. Kimbrel has been up and down the last several seasons between the minors and majors. Kimbrel was last an all-star as the Phillies’ closer back in 2023, when he posted a 3.81 ERA, and he was the Orioles’ everyday closer in 2024, recording 23 saves for the team.

Kimbrel Has Had A Storied Hall Of Fame Career

It’s been a storied career for Kimbrel, who has 440 career saves currently, which ranks 5th all-time on the MLB leaderboard for saves as a closer, according to Baseball Reference. The Rays are known as an organization with a strong pitching and overall player development pipeline, where they maximize player value on a very tight budget, with a 103 million dollar payroll in 2026, which ranks 24th out of 30 in Major League Baseball, according to Spotrac.

The Rays, with a low payroll and a (34-17) record and a 3.5 game lead ahead of the Yankees in first place, the Rays have gotten surprisingly good production from starting pitching acquisitions such as Nick Martinez, who they signed as a free agent this past winter and so far has a 1.51 ERA wtih a 4-1 record and 36 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.

Other starting pitchers the Rays have gotten good production from so far, either through trades or free-agent signings, include Drew Rasmussen, Steven Matz, and Griffin Jax. Therefore, with Craig Kimbrel added to the mix in terms of their bullpen, it’ll be interesting to see if this is a name the Rays could maximize and get something out of, and in terms of Kimbrel, it will be interesting to see if he has anything left in the tank for an incredibly innovative organization, in the Tampa Bay Rays.