The Braves signed veteran closer to a minor league deal in the middle of March. He hasnt been called up to the big leagues yet but it seems that could happen at any time with any club. reports that Kimbrels deal has a clause that Rosenthal refers to as a rolling opt-out. This clause means that, if any other club offers him a major league job, Atlanta has to promote him or let him go. The way Rosenthal describes it, it sounds more like an upward mobility clause than a strict opt-out. With an opt-out clause, a player usually has a specific date wherein he can trigger the clause and become a free agent. With an upward mobility clause, when the player triggers it, it gives teams around the league a chance to give the player a major league roster spot. Theres usually a time frame of 48 hours for such decisions. If any club wants the player, the original signing team then has to decide to call him up or let the claiming team have him. Semantics aside, what seems to be unique in this case is the rolling nature of the clause. Rather than having specific dates mentioned in the contract, it seems that Hunter Harvey Jersey any of the 29 other clubs could trigger the clause at any time by offering Kimbrel a gig in the big leagues. If that happens, Atlanta would then have to decide to call him up or let him go. That makes it somewhat surprising that Kimbrel isnt in the majors already. He has thrown 17 innings in the minors this year, mostly at Triple-A but also with a few appearances at Double-A. He has a combined 1.06 earned run average on the year. His 12.5% walk rate is a bit high but he has struck out 32.8% of batters faced and kept 45.7% of balls in play on the ground. A .171 batting average on balls in play isnt sustainable but his 2.43 FIP suggests hes still doing quite well when correcting for some regre sion. Thats a fairly small sample of work in the minor leagues but Kimbrel also has his lengthy major league track record. He is fifth on the all-time saves leaderboard with 440. He has a 2.59 ERA over 809 2/3 innings, along with a 38.8% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. More recently, his results have been le s consistent, which is why he settled for a minor league deal coming into this year. He was quite shaky in 2019 and 2020, posting ERAs north of 5.00 in both of those seasons. He generally had better results for the 2021-23 campaigns but struggled again in 2024. He posted a 5.33 ERA with the Orioles last year, getting released in September. Perhaps teams are putting more stock in last years struggles in the majors, as opposed to this years good results in the minors. His deal also comes with a $2MM base salary if hes called up. Presumably, thats prorated, leaving a bit le s than $1.3MM to be paid out at this point. Thats relatively small by MLB standards but teams are often reluctant to add money in midseason pickups. just pa sed through waivers unclaimed even though he was quite effective in 2023-24. His $2.995MM salary this year might have been a factor, in addition to the fact that his results have backed up. Whatever the reasons, Kimbrel still doesnt have a major league opportunity. But given that a number of clubs around the league are dealing with bullpen challenges and pitcher injuries are inevitable, a path could open for him. Given the specifics of this clause, he only needs one of the 30 clubs to bite. Photo courtesy of Kareem Elgazzar, Imagn Images Carter Jensen Jersey