Craig Kimbrel will certainly rank among the best relief pitchers in Major League Baseball of this century. The nine-time All-Star may well be on the path to the Hall of Fame, having been one of the most prolific closers in the game.
Nevertheless, Kimbrel has suffered a sharp decline in his career over the past 18 months. His major league career is now hanging by a thread after becoming an unsigned free agent in the middle of the season.
Craig Kimbrel Re-Enters Free Agency After Getting DFA’d by the Braves
The Atlanta Braves had signed Kimbrel to a minor league contract at the start of the 2025 campaign. He had posted a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings for Double-A Columbus and Triple-A Gwinnett before getting called up to the major league roster.
Kimbrel pitched a scoreless seventh inning with one hit, one walk, and one strikeout against the San Francisco Giants on Friday. However, he was DFA’d by the Braves the next day and terminated his contract on Monday to become a free agent once again.
“Craig Kimbrel is not a good pitcher anymore,” former Miami Marlins general manager David Samson said on his podcast this Monday. “When it’s a name you used to love, you feel as though that player is the player you’re going to get. It never works that way.”
After being DFA’ed and outrighted by the #Braves, Craig Kimbrel chooses to return to free agency: pic.twitter.com/tigYlIH4Bb
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) June 10, 2025
Kimbrel was a third-round pick for the Braves in the 2008 MLB Draft and spent five years with the team in the major leagues. He won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2011 and had top-10 finishes in the Cy Young race in each of his first four full seasons.
The decision from the Braves to cut Kimbrel after just a solo appearance from their roster has sparked some discontent among the fans. Samson stated that it was purely a business decision, and the veteran pitcher was fully aware of the situation.
“I can assure you that when they signed nine-time All-Star Craig Kimbrel to a contract and he was pitching in the minor leagues, that’s because he gave permission for him to pitch in the minor leagues,” Samson said.
“What you do with those contracts with players that have the right not to pitch or play in the minor leagues is you get them to waive that right. You get them to extend permission to the team to have them play in the minor leagues. That’s standard front office.”
After getting traded to the San Diego Padres in 2015, Kimbrel played three years for the Boston Red Sox. He then went on to represent the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Philadelphia Phillies in the next five years.
The 37-year-old had joined the Baltimore Orioles last year on a one-year, $13 million deal before getting designated for assignment right before the end of the season. He has 440 saves over his 16-year career, placing him in fifth spot on the all-time list.