{"id":539690,"date":"2026-01-26T23:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/539690\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:42:14","slug":"breaking-down-the-mets-signing-of-craig-kimbrel-and-other-smaller-additions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/539690\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking down the Mets’ signing of Craig Kimbrel and other smaller additions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mets<\/a> accomplished much of their offseason heavy lifting<\/a> last week, finalizing a contract with Bo Bichette and swinging trades for Freddy Peralta and Luis Robert during a furious 48-hour frenzy.<\/p>\n

Those deals satisfied the Mets\u2019 biggest needs, with the ace Peralta now topping their rotation, Bichette ready to settle into the heart of the lineup and at third base, and Robert set to provide elite center-field defense with upside as a hitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel good about where our team is,\u201d president of baseball operations David Stearns said last week. \u201cWe think we\u2019ve got a very good team. Certainly, happy with the additions we\u2019ve been able to make over the last couple of days and weeks. And also, frankly, really happy with the existing group we have coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t mean the Mets were done.<\/p>\n

In the days since, the Mets have remained busy with a string of lower-profile moves to fill out their roster and bolster their organizational depth.<\/p>\n

They agreed to terms with veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel<\/a> \u2014 a former top-tier closer \u2014 on a minor-league contract, which carries a base salary of $2.5 million if he makes the team, according to The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Mets signed right-handed reliever Luis Garc\u00eda<\/a> to a one-year contract after the 38-year-old delivered a solid 2025 season with three different teams.<\/p>\n

And they acquired well-traveled utility man Vidal Bruj\u00e1n<\/a> in a trade with the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations.<\/p>\n

To make room on their 40-man roster, the Mets designated left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady for assignment and traded right-handed reliever Cooper Criswell to the Seattle Mariners.<\/p>\n

The Mets also designated infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment, days after they added him on waivers.<\/p>\n

Among the new additions, Kimbrel boasts the most upside. Kimbrel, 37, is a nine-time All-Star who led the National League in saves for four consecutive seasons from 2011-14 with the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n

Kimbrel is no longer that pitcher. His last All-Star selection came in 2023, and he\u2019s been designated for assignment in each of the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

Still, Kimbrel pitched to a 2.25 ERA with 17 strikeouts over 12 major-league innings with the Braves and Houston Astros last year. He had a 3.69 ERA over 38 minor-league innings.<\/p>\n

That represented at least something of a bounce back for Kimbrel, who posted a 5.33 ERA over 52.1 innings with the Baltimore Orioles in 2024.<\/p>\n

That said, the Mets\u2019 bullpen could be a difficult one to crack.<\/p>\n

The Mets signed Devin Williams to be their closer (ultimately replacing Edwin Diaz) and Luke Weaver to set him up.<\/p>\n

A.J. Minter may not be ready for Opening Day as he recovers from last year\u2019s lat surgery, but Garc\u00eda, Brooks Raley and Tobias Myers \u2014 who also came over from Milwaukee in the Peralta trade \u2014 are all expected to command bullpen spots.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also right-hander Huascar Brazob\u00e1n, who had a 3.57 ERA over 63 major-league innings last year but spent time at Triple-A Syracuse, too.<\/p>\n

Another factor is the Mets\u2019 surplus of starting pitchers. Whether they deploy a six-man rotation or move someone to the bullpen, that\u2019s another roster spot that won\u2019t be up for grabs.<\/p>\n

Of course, injuries can create opportunities.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda, who turns 39 on Friday, is older than Kimbrel. But he is coming off a 2025 season in which he pitched to a 3.42 ERA in 55.1 innings with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda\u2019s average fastball velocity of 96.9 mph ranked in the 87th percentile<\/a> in the majors in 2025, while his 49.7% ground-ball rate was also well above average.<\/p>\n

Over 13 MLB seasons with eight teams, Garc\u00eda owns a 4.07 ERA.<\/p>\n

Bruj\u00e1n, meanwhile, appeared in 60 games last season with the Chicago Cubs, Orioles and Braves, batting .253 without a home run in 87 at-bats.<\/p>\n

A former top prospect with the Tampa Bay Rays, the switch-hitting Bruj\u00e1n is only a .199 hitter over five MLB seasons, but he has appeared at every position other than catcher.<\/p>\n

He has played second base most frequently.<\/p>\n

Bruj\u00e1n, 27, is hardly a lock to make the Mets\u2019 roster, as Bichette, Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco are set to be everyday players while fellow infielders Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio remain in the mix.<\/p>\n

But the acquisition of Bruj\u00e1n restored a bit of depth after the Mets traded two infielders \u2014 Luisangel Acu\u00f1a and top prospect Jett Williams \u2014 to Milwaukee for Peralta and Myers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mets accomplished much of their offseason heavy lifting last week, finalizing a contract with Bo Bichette and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,88,847,753,2098,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,896],"class_list":{"0":"post-539690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bo-bichette","10":"tag-craig-kimbrel","11":"tag-freddy-peralta","12":"tag-luis-garcia","13":"tag-mets","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-mets","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkmets","19":"tag-vidal-brujan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115964054353652246","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}