I'm firmly in the Nay camp. First there are performance issues. Except for his outstanding 2017 season he hasn't been quite as good since 2014. Then there were the struggles in the post-season last year.
But a larger objection to me has to do with loss of "financial flexibility" (everyone's favorite buzz phrase) next off-season if we sign him beyond 2019.
Without Kimbrel we will head into the off-season with about $30M to play with. Options for using that money include:
1) Making a QO to Donaldson with the real possibility he accepts it. With Donaldson returning on a QO we would have a very deep team similar to this year's and still have some $ to play with.
2) Going after Grandal. Flowers and McCann have done well this year, but at some point the aging curve will catch up to them.
I think either of those becomes more difficult with Kimbrel signed for 2020. Not impossible. We could try to move salary.
If we don't sign Kimbrel, we also have the option of pursuing both 1 and 2 above by moving some salary. I like that possibility a lot. Having both Donaldson and Grandal on this team would turn an already good lineup into a powerhouse.
So we should consider the tradeoffs involved. Signing Kimbrel to anything more than a half-year deal means forgoing 1 or 2 above. It definitely rules out being able to carry both Donaldson and Grandal in 2020.
Of course if we don't sign him it means we will upgrade the pen in a different way, with costs involved there as well. It is only fair to acknowledge that.
The ideal to me is to just sign him for 2019, but I don't know that this is a realistic option.
Reply With Quote