Phillies Closer Linked as Potential Royals Target

The Philadelphia Phillies will have competition if they want to hang on to closer Craig Kimbrel.

Philadelphia Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel may be 35 years old, but he’s likely to be in demand during free agency because he has a track record for getting the job done.

With Kimbrel hitting free agency, the Phillies have to be asking themselves if they can keep him?

Sports Illustrated ranked its Top-50 free agents in baseball and predicted where each free agent would end up. In their rankings and predictions, Kimbrel didn’t end up back in Philadelphia.

The landing spot SI predicted was a bit surprising — the Kansas City Royals.

Yes, the Royals that could land the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft Lottery next month and won only 56 games last season.

Kansas City could be looking for many things in free agency. A closer would certainly be on the list.

SI’s analysis noted that Kimbrel’s experience would be a great addition to a young team and that he’s chasing some of the best closers in baseball history:

Kimbrel had an ugly start to his tenure in Philadelphia but rebounded to take over the Phillies’ closer role midseason and make his ninth All-Star team while showing he can still rack up strikeouts at the back end of the bullpen—though he allows more hard contact and home runs than he used to. With 417 career saves, eighth-most all time, he’d surpass Billy Wagner, John Franco and Francisco Rodríguez on the career leaderboard if he matched his season total of 23 saves again in 2024.

Indeed, Kimbrel is one of the best in the game. He’s coming off a 2023 in which he went 8-3 with a 3.26 ERA and 23 saves in 28 chances. He also had seven holds and struck out 94 hitters in 69 innings.

It looks like the former third-round pick of the Atlanta Braves still has something to give.

It’s possible it won’t be with Philadelphia in 2024.