There is an inclination among a number of Orioles fans to always want to get rid of a player when he’s struggling.
You’ve heard it even more than you’ve heard the word “demure” this summer. “It’s time for ______ to go. Just bring up a young guy. There’s no way that guy can be worse.”
Sometimes we’re just venting frustration. We know better than to think that whoever the alternative might be (no, I’m not looking at you Colin Selby, why do you ask?) couldn’t possibly be worse than a struggling veteran player. But we don’t actually know where the line really is between “could he really be worse” and (moves vocals up three octaves) “COULD HE REALLY BE WORSE?”
Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter will sometimes reference what he labels an old adage within the sport. “Never let the star fall on you,” he says. But even Showalter understands the difficulty of the decision. Past-their-prime players like Jim Thome and Vladimir Guerrero were shown deference as they wrapped their careers in Baltimore.
Craig Kimbrel’s season in Baltimore has been … let’s go with “adventurous.” There was a stretch of success. There were moments of pure dominance. There have been struggles. There have been excuses. (“He’s being pitched too much and also clearly he’s not being used enough!”) There have been demotions. And more recently there have been … lots of walks. Lots and lots and lots of walks. Since July 14, there have specifically been 12 walks in 9.2 innings of work.
And yes, there have been calls for him to be DFA’d.
I have largely laughed at and been completely dismissive of those suggestions. Reading that, you’re probably expecting me to say that I’ve now changed my mind. You’re not getting that. But there’s a bigger point. I’m still dismissive of those suggestions, but not because I think they’re absurd. I’m dismissive because there simply isn’t a reasonable alternative at the moment.
Dillon Tate appears as though he’s on the cusp of getting another shot to nail down a spot. Presumably he’ll take Selby’s roster spot, possibly even before you read this column. But then who? Cade Povich looked incredible in a spot start on Aug. 17, but it’s impossible to confidently declare him capable of being a leverage bullpen arm without experience in the role.
Whether you believe Kimbrel can regain the form he found in May and June or not, there’s just no reason to clear his roster spot today. But things can change. If Kimbrel continues to give away free bases and stolen bases at a rate higher than your kids’ anxiety levels for the start of the school year, that could change. And if everyone else stays healthy and effective (or in the case of Gregory Soto, GETS effective), this could become far more interesting when Jacob Webb and Danny Coulombe return.
There’s a real question about whether Kimbrel can definitively hold on to be a part of the playoff roster. But at this rate, his usefulness might expire even before then. What Kimbrel does have going for himself is that if the team is willing to consider designating him at all, it almost certainly won’t happen before Sept. 1. The Orioles likely don’t want to allow for the one-in-a-million nightmare scenario of Kimbrel latching on with another club and then pitching well against them in the postseason. Plaxico Burress thinks that would be a painful shot with your own gun.
And if Kimbrel survives to Sept. 1, he’ll have the benefit of an additional roster spot. That could potentially help keep him on the team and buy him more time to figure out his free-pass issues.
What’s important is that the Orioles don’t make any decision specifically because they’re paying him $13 million. And this isn’t unique to Kimbrel. If Soto can’t work through his own issues, his roster spot shouldn’t be guaranteed simply because the Birds traded Moisés Chace and Seth Johnson for him. The same goes for Trevor Rogers, who cost Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers. Soto and Rogers are more complicated because they’re controlled through 2025 and 2026, respectively. That probably protects them from even the consideration of being designated but certainly shouldn’t guarantee them a spot on the playoff roster.
The Orioles hold a 2025 club option on Kimbrel they won’t exercise. He looks more and more like someone at the end of his rope. As such, a decision on his roster spot might not have to wait until the end of the regular season.
But he still has time to turn things around.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles