Cubs, Orioles fans can share misery after ruthless Craig Kimbrel roster move

Not even a borderline Cooperstown-worthy resume and over 400 career saves could save Craig Kimbrel. With an eye on October - and bringing home the franchise's first World Series title since 1983 - the Baltimore Orioles designated the former Chicago Cubs closer for assignment on Wednesday, ending their ninth-inning experiment that went off the rails in the second half.

The not-so-proud owner of an ERA over 10.00 since the All-Star break, Kimbrel allowed six earned runs in the ninth inning of a 10-0 blowout loss to the San Francisco Giants in his final Orioles appearance. It's hard for that to not be the nail in the proverbial coffin for a guy who was brought in to fill in for injured All-Star closer Felix Bautista, who missed the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The O's jumped the market last winter, locking up Kimbrel on a one-year, $12 million deal that contained a team option for 2025. Baltimore is on the hook for a small piece of that salary and a $1 million buyout of that option. But it's a move that had to be made, given what's at stake. Brandon Hyde's club entered action Wednesday four games back in the division and in sole possession of the top wild-card spot.

Craig Kimbrel's time with the Cubs was an unmitigated disaster

Cubs fans no doubt remember their own team's failed Kimbrel experiment when Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer waited until June, signing him to a three-year, $43 million deal. He was a disaster from the get-go, working to a 6.53 ERA and 8.00 FIP down the stretch in 2019 and following it up with a 5.28 ERA in the shortened 2020 season, although he punched out an impressive 16.4 batters per nine that year.

He got his feet back under him early in 2021 just enough for the Cubs to jettison him, sending him to the South Side in the deal that brought back Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer. The wheels again fell off and the Sox traded the former Rookie of the Year to the Dodgers ahead of the 2022 campaign. From there, Kimbrel inked a one-year deal with the Phillies and earned the ninth All-Star nod of his career, but a shaky October showing last fall raised more than a few eyebrows.

That brings us back to Baltimore, a team with one of the best young position player cores in the game, not unlike the 2016 Cubs team that won it all. They could ill-afford to trust Kimbrel with the ninth inning come the postseason and, given the fairly minor financial implications, as brutal and harsh of a move as it was, it was one made with winning in mind.