Kimbrel in the Mix: Did the Mets add Bullpen Depth or Just Bull?

There was a time when Craig Kimbrel entered a baseball game and opposing hitters immediately started thinking about their families. They wondered if they had said I love you enough. They wondered if this was how it ended.

That Craig Kimbrel was a menace. A right armed horror movie with a bent over stance, a fastball that hissed, and a breaking ball that vanished like socks in a dryer. He piled up saves the way the Mets used to pile up injuries. Four hundred and forty of them. Fifth most in baseball history. That is not a number you stumble into unless you have been terrifying hitters for a very long time.

So when the Mets signed Kimbrel to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, my first reaction was simple. Great. Why not.

My second reaction was the more complicated Mets fan follow up. Wait. Why him and why now ?

And my third reaction because this is a requirement written somewhere in the fan constitution was what about the guys we used to have ?

Let us start with the good news. This is a low risk move by definition. Kimbrel is not being handed the ninth inning, the Citi Field trumpet, or the keys to the bullpen fridge. He is being handed a locker, a jersey, and a chance. If it works, great. If it does not, no contract gets torched and no season hinges on it. Worst case scenario the Mets burn a few spring training innings and some baseballs that were probably headed for the souvenir bin anyway.

And the upside is real. Not imagined. Last season, bouncing between organizations like a frequent flyer with unresolved issues, Kimbrel quietly showed there is still something left in the tank. In limited major league innings, he continued to miss bats at an above average rate, striking out hitters with a fastball that still plays up because of deception and angle rather than raw velocity. His whiff rate remained competitive with late inning relievers, and when he stayed ahead in counts, hitters still looked uncomfortable.

The stuff is no longer overpowering, but it is still effective in bursts. His fastball velocity has settled into the low to mid 90s, yet it retains late life, and his breaking ball remains a legitimate out pitch when he commands it. The results reflected that reality. Short outings. High leverage pockets. Fewer clean innings, but also fewer balls squared up when he executed.

This version of Kimbrel is not here to carry a bullpen. He is here to be deployed surgically. One inning at a time. One matchup at a time. Used properly, he can still turn a lineup into a collection of disappointed men walking back to the dugout, not because they were overpowered, but because they were out thought.

That distinction matters, especially for a Mets bullpen that has been aggressively remodeled after losing Edwin Diaz to Los Angeles because apparently the Dodgers now get everything including joy. The Mets responded by adding Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Luis Garcia, and Tobias Myers. Suddenly the bullpen looks deeper, sturdier, and far less likely to send fans Googling heart medication by June.

Kimbrel fits into that picture as a lottery ticket with Hall of Fame seasoning. If he is right, the Mets could stumble into a late inning weapon who has done this before at the highest level. If he is not, the exit is painless.

But here is where the Mets fan brain kicks in and ruins the calm.

Because signing Craig Kimbrel does not preclude the Mets from adding Drew Smith and Max Kranick. In fact, roster math suggests the opposite. Most teams carry 13 pitchers on a 26 man roster, traditionally five starters and eight relievers. The Mets have openly discussed the possibility of a six man rotation to manage innings. If they go that route, the structure shifts to six starters and seven bullpen spots. Fewer chairs, yes, but still plenty of music playing.

As of this writing, the odds on favorites for those seven bullpen roles appear to be Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, A.J. Minter, Huascar Brazoban, Luis Garcia, Brooks Raley and Tobias Myers. Add Kimbrel to that mix and suddenly the margins tighten. Brazoban and Garcia in particular may feel their grip loosen. Not because they have failed, but because competition has a way of exposing fault lines.

And if the Mets are already leaning into competition, why stop there.

This is where Drew Smith and Max Kranick come back into the conversation. And yes, I understand the contradiction. I was fine with the departures of longtime Mets this offseason. Baseball is cold. Windows matter. Hard decisions are part of the job. But this feels different.

Why pay for a full year of Drew Smith’s rehab only to let him walk once he is healthy enough to contribute. Smith has survived multiple bullpen versions, multiple managerial eras, and multiple moments where one bad outing felt like the end. Yet when healthy, he gets outs. He belongs. Letting him go now feels less like strategy and more like wasted investment.

And Max Kranick deserves more than a footnote. We saw him fulfill his potential in a Mets uniform. We saw him thrive as a long man. We saw him succeed in high leverage spots when games were still very much on the line. He showed velocity, composure, and the versatility modern bullpens claim to crave. He earned another look. Not a courtesy look. A real one.

This is not an argument against Craig Kimbrel. It is an argument for letting the best arms win. All of them.

Let us also remember this. Forty six different pitchers toed the rubber for the Mets last season. Forty six. Take a second and see how many you can name without looking it up. Bonus points if you get past twenty five. Special props if Jonathan Pintaro's outing crossed your mind without the aid of Google or a licensed therapist. Even if you cut that number in half, you are still talking about more than twenty three arms cycling through a season. Depth is not clutter. It is survival.

This is very much a David Stearns roster. Options matter. Flexibility matters. And competition matters most of all. Bringing Kimbrel into the mix raises the floor. Bringing back Smith and Kranick raises the ceiling by forcing everyone else to be sharper just to stay in the room.

So yes, Craig Kimbrel is a low risk, potentially high reward signing. If he has anything left, the Mets could benefit in a real way. If he does not, the page turns quickly.

But the real story is whether the Mets are willing to trust the arms they have developed as much as the names they have signed.

Because championships are not built on nostalgia. They are built on making the right call at the right time.

And Mets fans will be watching every bullpen inning like it is a final exam. History has taught us that relief pitching is never just relief.

It is stress.

It is hope.

And sometimes, if you are lucky, it is Craig Kimbrel bending at the waist and slamming the door one more time.