August 22, 2025 • 8 mins
Wex and AC discuss the realistic expectations for Craig Kimbrel joins the Astros bullpen heading into the final stretch of the regular season. Is he a one game and done? Is he the piece of stability that sends Houston back to the World Series amid a potential Hall of Fame career?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
It is the eight team Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
WEX.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I got a question for you here in the second segment,
and it does not involve Bill Cosby. It's a name,
and I'm going to put several question marks on the
end of it. And that's going to be the question.
Craig Kimberrel, that's it. That's the question.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So the last couple of weeks, after the Chicago Cubs
said it was time to DFA, Ryan Presley was all
the rage to say, why don't the Astros make a
phone call? Why don't we, you know, see if that's
somebody that could help this bullpen, which clearly needed some help.
And is there any issue with maybe how the relationship
between Dana Brown and Ryan Presley was, which always seemed
a bit strange, But I'm sure baseball would prevail over
anything else. Presley wants to work, the Astros want to win,
(01:01):
Dana wants to make it happen. I doubt that was
much of an issue, if it even was a consideration.
But why was Ryan Presley DFA A little lack of
success at different times, especially recently prior to his dismissal
from the Chicago Cubs, And we talked about some of
his peripherals, some of the numbers, hard hit rate, you know,
batting average again, slugging aloud, all sorts of things exit Velo.
(01:23):
Over the last several years. It's a very very very
clear trend. The pitcher he once was, he's not him anymore.
And not only that, he's gotten to the point where
he's so far beyond that it's troublesome to find the
best spots for him.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Cubs are headed to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Cubs were a first place team or close to it
at the time, and they felt this was the move
they needed to make. Craig Kimberl's not that different from that,
except nobody wanted him to even throw a major league
pitch this year, except for a team that was just
like what the Astros did this week with Taylor Freaking
Scott Taylor Scott DFA.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Nobody wanted him.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Astors had him on a minor league deal, spent a
little over a month with the Space Cowboys bullpens in
dire straits, put him on the forty man, bring him up,
know that you're gonna use him, and know that you're
gonna send him packing the very next day. That's what
happened to Craig kimberl this year. For the only inning
he has as a major leaguer this year with the Braves.
They brought him back, they activated him, they put him
(02:20):
out there, and then they sent him packing. Rangers picked
him up after that, and he's been in their minor
league system ever since, throwing at Triple A. I don't
think this is a particularly smart play. I could work.
Definitely not in favor of it. My thought on this
has been the same from the beginning of this year
and for almost every year, and it's what do you
(02:41):
have a minor league system for. I don't care how
bad it is, I don't care how poorly it's thought
of outside the organization. If Logan van wy and aj
Bluebaugh and Luis Contreras and Nick Hernandez and the countless
people who throw baseballs for the Space Cowboys are a
worse option, then Craig Kimberrel I I'm shocked. Yeah, well,
(03:05):
considered worse options than a guy who nobody wants pitching
for them at the major league level for almost the
entire season.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And you haven't even gotten to the most important part
of your argument and my argument in everybody who has
a sound baseball minds argument against this move.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
You've killed him, you the team signing him. I don't
even agree with that.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Why when did you kill him back when he was
supposedly still good? That's my point, doesn't even matter, totally irrelevant. Well,
it's no, but it an that's what.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
That's the point that it reinforces, though you were killing
him back when he was good.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Way to throw pitches from. Okay, I will give you that, because.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
He also walks a ton of batters. If you guys
hadn't been paid.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Well, the Astros don't have enough of those guys on
their staff, so clearly they need another one.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Like the best part of what their bullpen still is.
They don't walk guys. SUSA doesn't walk guys. King doesn't
normally walk guys. Walked a guy last night. Steven Oker
doesn't walk guys. A brave who walks a few more
than you'd like, usually as soon as he gets into
the game.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Tonight's starter watching Josh Ja doesn't walk.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I'm and Kimberl has had trouble finding the strikes on
the last couple of years of his career, and it's
there's a reason why he's been through multiple organizations. The
point I'd make is I'd rather see young Logan van
Wise arm. I'd rather see young aj Bluebaw's arm at
the major league level rather than hundreds and hundreds and
(04:26):
hundreds and hundreds of appearances thirty seven year old Craig
Kimberl's arm. When you have all the data you need,
he he's not capable of consistently getting major league hitters out.
I'm a little surprised, and I can't believe they find
themselves this desperate. And I'm saying this without him having pitched,
things could go a lot better than I'm forecasting, quite clearly.
(04:46):
But yeah, when I saw the news yesterday and we
talked about a little on post game show last night.
We'll talk more about it today because both with Lance
mccullors and Kimberl, all the roster has to be changed
in order from that to happen from a pitching standpoint,
because they gotta divide spots for them, which means two
other arms are gonna have to be taking off the
roster in some form or fashion.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, I just I don't get it like you.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I don't understand what the thinking is and even Okay,
so even if you wanted to go get a guy who's,
you know, at the tail end of his career or
in that in that vein basically, someone who's from the
outside of the organization, a veteran presence you want to
bring in whatever. Aren't there other names that are comparable
to Craig Kimberl that are better.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
I don't know who they.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Are, but the last three or four weeks there have
been a countless pictures that have been DFA. Presley would
be one, Carlos Carrasco would be another. There's quite a few,
and they're all I feel.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Like, if they got Presley, I would say the same
thing about the signing is I'm saying about Cam Kimbrel,
I would too, you know. That's that's why I'm like
this is this is no different than going and getting
a guy who you already knew at least.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I hope it works. I hope they're not relying on
him for much. I doubt very seriously that they are.
He's just someone else they hope can help him get
a few outs. There's probably some matchups they think might
work best for him. The way he throws the arm angle.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
That he uses.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
But it's just there's there's enough evidence, and I know
it was just you know, some might look at his
twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three seasons with two
different teams and say, no, look how effective he was,
and look he was getting guys out, He was counted
on and he was used a lot, And it is true.
There's some good numbers there, there's some good results there.
Twenty twenty four, Baltimore thought that signed him in the offseason,
(06:32):
gave him twelve million dollars. He was terrible, and he
was let go before the end of the year. And
this year, as I pointed out, it's been one organization
after the next, and we're talking about a guy who
has more career saves than Billy Wagner.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, that's isn't that crazy? Yeah? It is. Is he
going in the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I really don't think so. And it would be interesting
to you know, ken Lee Janssen is the active leader
in saves, Craig kimberl Now is right there behind him,
and Billy Wagner just got in. They're things that Billy
Wagner had on his side that pretty much every other
reliever doesn't because he's first all time, because he's the
best that's ever done it. So it's not just about
the save total for Billy Wagner, which isn't even as
(07:14):
strong as theirs. You know, Craig Kimball's first four years
as a major leaguer, he had almost two hundred saves,
almost forty percent of his career total at age twenty six,
and then pitched for another twelve years and basically doubled
It's it's been a long time since he's been the
guy closing games for anybody, But like I said, the
(07:34):
last couple of years he has procured a bunch of
saves for Baltimore and Philadelphia and the Dodgers and the
White Sox and the Cubs all in a span of
four years, plus the Braves this year for an inning.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I thought this was gonna be one of those times
where you sound like you're done and then you find
like five more teams that he played for too.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, the Astros.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
When he throws his first pitch will be team number
nine that he's thrown a major league pitch for, and
it will be team numbers in the last four years.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Admit it the first time he gets into a relief
situation for the astros. Even if it isn't high leverage,
you're gonna be a little bit nervous.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I will be, there would be.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
If you're not nervous, then maybe you have already gone
to Betty by
Speaker 2 (08:17):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety
It is the eight team Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
WEX.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I got a question for you here in the second segment,
and it does not involve Bill Cosby. It's a name,
and I'm going to put several question marks on the
end of it. And that's going to be the question.
Craig Kimberrel, that's it. That's the question.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So the last couple of weeks, after the Chicago Cubs
said it was time to DFA, Ryan Presley was all
the rage to say, why don't the Astros make a
phone call? Why don't we, you know, see if that's
somebody that could help this bullpen, which clearly needed some help.
And is there any issue with maybe how the relationship
between Dana Brown and Ryan Presley was, which always seemed
a bit strange, But I'm sure baseball would prevail over
anything else. Presley wants to work, the Astros want to win,
(01:01):
Dana wants to make it happen. I doubt that was
much of an issue, if it even was a consideration.
But why was Ryan Presley DFA A little lack of
success at different times, especially recently prior to his dismissal
from the Chicago Cubs, And we talked about some of
his peripherals, some of the numbers, hard hit rate, you know,
batting average again, slugging aloud, all sorts of things exit Velo.
(01:23):
Over the last several years. It's a very very very
clear trend. The pitcher he once was, he's not him anymore.
And not only that, he's gotten to the point where
he's so far beyond that it's troublesome to find the
best spots for him.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Cubs are headed to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Cubs were a first place team or close to it
at the time, and they felt this was the move
they needed to make. Craig Kimberl's not that different from that,
except nobody wanted him to even throw a major league
pitch this year, except for a team that was just
like what the Astros did this week with Taylor Freaking
Scott Taylor Scott DFA.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Nobody wanted him.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Astors had him on a minor league deal, spent a
little over a month with the Space Cowboys bullpens in
dire straits, put him on the forty man, bring him up,
know that you're gonna use him, and know that you're
gonna send him packing the very next day. That's what
happened to Craig kimberl this year. For the only inning
he has as a major leaguer this year with the Braves.
They brought him back, they activated him, they put him
(02:20):
out there, and then they sent him packing. Rangers picked
him up after that, and he's been in their minor
league system ever since, throwing at Triple A. I don't
think this is a particularly smart play. I could work.
Definitely not in favor of it. My thought on this
has been the same from the beginning of this year
and for almost every year, and it's what do you
(02:41):
have a minor league system for. I don't care how
bad it is, I don't care how poorly it's thought
of outside the organization. If Logan van wy and aj
Bluebaugh and Luis Contreras and Nick Hernandez and the countless
people who throw baseballs for the Space Cowboys are a
worse option, then Craig Kimberrel I I'm shocked. Yeah, well,
(03:05):
considered worse options than a guy who nobody wants pitching
for them at the major league level for almost the
entire season.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And you haven't even gotten to the most important part
of your argument and my argument in everybody who has
a sound baseball minds argument against this move.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
You've killed him, you the team signing him. I don't
even agree with that.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Why when did you kill him back when he was
supposedly still good? That's my point, doesn't even matter, totally irrelevant. Well,
it's no, but it an that's what.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
That's the point that it reinforces, though you were killing
him back when he was good.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Way to throw pitches from. Okay, I will give you that, because.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
He also walks a ton of batters. If you guys
hadn't been paid.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Well, the Astros don't have enough of those guys on
their staff, so clearly they need another one.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Like the best part of what their bullpen still is.
They don't walk guys. SUSA doesn't walk guys. King doesn't
normally walk guys. Walked a guy last night. Steven Oker
doesn't walk guys. A brave who walks a few more
than you'd like, usually as soon as he gets into
the game.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Tonight's starter watching Josh Ja doesn't walk.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I'm and Kimberl has had trouble finding the strikes on
the last couple of years of his career, and it's
there's a reason why he's been through multiple organizations. The
point I'd make is I'd rather see young Logan van
Wise arm. I'd rather see young aj Bluebaw's arm at
the major league level rather than hundreds and hundreds and
(04:26):
hundreds and hundreds of appearances thirty seven year old Craig
Kimberl's arm. When you have all the data you need,
he he's not capable of consistently getting major league hitters out.
I'm a little surprised, and I can't believe they find
themselves this desperate. And I'm saying this without him having pitched,
things could go a lot better than I'm forecasting, quite clearly.
(04:46):
But yeah, when I saw the news yesterday and we
talked about a little on post game show last night.
We'll talk more about it today because both with Lance
mccullors and Kimberl, all the roster has to be changed
in order from that to happen from a pitching standpoint,
because they gotta divide spots for them, which means two
other arms are gonna have to be taking off the
roster in some form or fashion.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, I just I don't get it like you.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I don't understand what the thinking is and even Okay,
so even if you wanted to go get a guy who's,
you know, at the tail end of his career or
in that in that vein basically, someone who's from the
outside of the organization, a veteran presence you want to
bring in whatever. Aren't there other names that are comparable
to Craig Kimberl that are better.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
I don't know who they.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Are, but the last three or four weeks there have
been a countless pictures that have been DFA. Presley would
be one, Carlos Carrasco would be another. There's quite a few,
and they're all I feel.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Like, if they got Presley, I would say the same
thing about the signing is I'm saying about Cam Kimbrel,
I would too, you know. That's that's why I'm like
this is this is no different than going and getting
a guy who you already knew at least.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I hope it works. I hope they're not relying on
him for much. I doubt very seriously that they are.
He's just someone else they hope can help him get
a few outs. There's probably some matchups they think might
work best for him. The way he throws the arm angle.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
That he uses.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
But it's just there's there's enough evidence, and I know
it was just you know, some might look at his
twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three seasons with two
different teams and say, no, look how effective he was,
and look he was getting guys out, He was counted
on and he was used a lot, And it is true.
There's some good numbers there, there's some good results there.
Twenty twenty four, Baltimore thought that signed him in the offseason,
(06:32):
gave him twelve million dollars. He was terrible, and he
was let go before the end of the year. And
this year, as I pointed out, it's been one organization
after the next, and we're talking about a guy who
has more career saves than Billy Wagner.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, that's isn't that crazy? Yeah? It is. Is he
going in the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I really don't think so. And it would be interesting
to you know, ken Lee Janssen is the active leader
in saves, Craig kimberl Now is right there behind him,
and Billy Wagner just got in. They're things that Billy
Wagner had on his side that pretty much every other
reliever doesn't because he's first all time, because he's the
best that's ever done it. So it's not just about
the save total for Billy Wagner, which isn't even as
(07:14):
strong as theirs. You know, Craig Kimball's first four years
as a major leaguer, he had almost two hundred saves,
almost forty percent of his career total at age twenty six,
and then pitched for another twelve years and basically doubled
It's it's been a long time since he's been the
guy closing games for anybody, But like I said, the
(07:34):
last couple of years he has procured a bunch of
saves for Baltimore and Philadelphia and the Dodgers and the
White Sox and the Cubs all in a span of
four years, plus the Braves this year for an inning.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I thought this was gonna be one of those times
where you sound like you're done and then you find
like five more teams that he played for too.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, the Astros.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
When he throws his first pitch will be team number
nine that he's thrown a major league pitch for, and
it will be team numbers in the last four years.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Admit it the first time he gets into a relief
situation for the astros. Even if it isn't high leverage,
you're gonna be a little bit nervous.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I will be, there would be.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
If you're not nervous, then maybe you have already gone
to Betty by
Speaker 2 (08:17):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety
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