Will Minnesota Be a Fit for Craig Kimbrel or Dallas Keuchel?

I assume they have seen them pitch.

Is Kimbrel throwing high 90s or mid 90s? Pay up for the high 90s.

Is Keuchel commanding all of his pitches? Does his slider look like the effective slider he had prior to 2018? If so he is a playoff pitcher.

When the season started - No.

Now - Yes.

Of the two my preference is Kimbral because our top 4 in the rotation are pitching great and that is good for a playoff rotation.  The 5th spot can go back and forth with Smeltzer, Pineda, Kohl Stewart, and Mejia and others.  

If we sign Kimbral we may not need to make any other moves at the trade deadline as the whole roster is firing on all cylinders right now.  

The attractive part with Kimbrel is that he will cost money not prospects and could be exactly what we need.  The money should be available since the crowds will be very good the rest of the season. The hold up is the way he ended the season last year. I think that and his salary demands are what caused him to be unsigned this long. But if they signed Kimbrel now you would have until the end of July to decide if you should trade for additional bullpen help.  I hope they go for it. 

Sign either of these guys and they'll wind up pitching only half a season. That's a good thing especially for high 90's Kimbrell, especially if Rocco puts him in the regular mix of relief arms, rather than just at closer. I like how Baldy has been spreading the load, both physically and emotionally. 

  On 6/1/2019 at 8:55 PM, crapforks said:

Keuchel may turn out to be a steal for someone, but he isn't a clear enough upgrade for the Twins as it stands, IMO. I wouldn't be upset with the signing, but I wouldn't advocate for it.

Good way to look at it.

The competitive window is wide open and attendance is up, so I hope the Twins front office goes all-in and is willing to pay Kimbrel (they should have the money to do it). I look at the Twins roster and the bullpen is the one area where I'm really not comfortable. Kimbrel would go a long ways towards making high leverage situations more solid.

Yes

With payroll flexibility of $11.7M over last year (2019 = $119.7M, 2018 = $131.4M), I say raid this cookie jar first! Sign Kimbrel to a one-year "proove it" deal. Keep the prospects on the top shelf, out of reach until the trade deadline.

Kimbrel, Will Smith, Marcus Stroman....and then let's fast forward to the ALDS.

Agreed. The Kimbrel move, provided he's got the juice, can help set up the late July moves. A ten-game lead in the Central provides the luxury of time to evaluate internal talent (+Kimbrel who should be in form by then), while taking a longer analysis of external trade opportunities.

I just don't understand the idea that Kimbrel might have to accept a role other than our CLOSER.  What in the heck are we talking about here?  Compare his track record and pedigree with anyone else in our bullpen.  It's not even CLOSE.  Is this just dumba$$ speculation?  Because no matter where the Twins are on Kimbrel's "LIST" if we were to torpedo our own chances by not making him the closer that would be just stupid.  I wouldn't mess around.  I'd make him a solid offer for 2 or 3 years.  He's a STUD closer.  If we expect to contend for several years (not just this year) having a guy like him to close games out would be essential.  His presence has a chain reaction down the line for our bullpen and makes everybody better.  And as someone else pointed out he only costs us money---no prospects.  The other good point made earlier was this:  Is he throwing mid-high 90's ??  If so, RUN, don't walk to get this guy in the fold.

Sure could have used Kimbrel today   9-7 The Rays almost caught up to a 7-0 Twins'  lead.

If Kimbrel gets a contract its gonna be for a large amount of money. He shouldn't care if he's pitching the 9th inning or the 5th inning. I doubt he values having sole possession of the 9th over 15-20 million dollars.

The only reason Baldellli is "spreading the load" (that's looks terrible) is because there is no closer on this team! To think just "put him in the mix" is not utilizing him to his talents.

I like a well rested Kimbrel that could be in the post-season at mid-seaon form.... instead of on the last legs of his year.

Before everybody goes crazy thinking about the Twins signing Kimbrel, ask yourselves one good question.  Is he a good fit for this team? 

A big part of why this team is winning like they are is because there is unbelievable chemistry amongst guys that seem to both like each other and like playing with each other.  Part of that is because many of them came up thru the minors together, winning at a lot of those stops along the way. 

I know nothing about Kimbrel, but if he isn't a really good fit for this team signing him will be a mistake.  And he doesn't have to be a jerk, just not the right personality to blend into what this team currently has.

The Athletic had a well thought out article today arguing the best landing places are the Rockies for Keuchel and the Cubs for Kimbrel.