González on Kimbrel: “He’s a great acquisition for us and I think he’s going to fit in perfectly in the clubhouse”

Fredi González can speak from experience about reliever Craig Kimbrel. About the new Orioles closer whose manager during his 2011 rookie season was the current team’s bench coach.

“I haven’t seen him since ’14,” González warns during an interview yesterday with MASNsports.com, “but those first four years I had him, for being so young, he was a squared-away guy.

“My impression is that he’s the same guy or even better.”

The Orioles would be thrilled if Kimbrel is the same.

They signed him to a $12 million deal during the Winter Meetings with a $1 million buyout on a $13 million club option, the largest free-agent contract under executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. An aggressive response, which began with negotiations on the first day of the general managers meetings, to Félix Bautista’s reconstructive elbow surgery that will prevent the All-Star from pitching next season.

Kimbrel was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in ’11, coinciding with González’s first season as Braves manager. He also finished ninth in Cy Young voting after recording 46 saves, three short of the major league lead, and averaging 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

The right-hander turns 36 next May and the Orioles are his fifth team in the last four years. But the 2023 season with the Phillies brought his ninth career All-Star selection, and a strong recommendation from González during a phone call with Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.

“Those four years for me, he might have led the league in saves (185). Just a solid guy, a solid person. The whole family is, really,” González said.

“I think he’s going to be fine. Hyder called me about him, I guess when they were courting him, and asked me about him, and I said, ‘This guy, he’s not going to give you any problems whatsoever.’ I haven’t seen him in 10 years, but I’ve never heard of him being an issue with anything. I think he’ll take the ball whenever you ask him to take the ball.”

González’s first bullpen in Atlanta also included Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters. O’Flaherty posted a 0.98 ERA and 1.086 WHIP in 78 games. Venters registered a 1.84 ERA and 1.091 WHIP in 85 and made the All-Star team.

They made González’s job much easier.

“When we had the lead in the seventh, the game was over,” he said. “We had a one-run lead, the game was over. You went seven, eight, nine, it was over.

“Those three guys led the league in games finished or appearances that year. (Kimbrel) is 10, 11 years older but I think he is going to be one of those guys that you can count on. He can handle the workload and he has to be even more mature for all the success he’s had.

"He has over 400 saves. I remember doing some video tribute to him in the middle of the summer. He’s knocking on the door of a hell of a career. You’ve got to put him in the conversation as a Hall of Famer.

“He’s a great acquisition for us and I think he’s going to fit in perfectly in the clubhouse.”

Kimbrel ranks eighth in baseball history with 417 saves and could leap over Francisco Rodríguez, who currently ranks fourth with 437. The bullpen lost Bautista but returns All-Star Yennier Cano and left-handers Cionel Pérez and Danny Coulombe. DL Hall and Tyler Wells could again settle into it rather than stick in the rotation. Cole Irvin split his 24 appearances between starting and relieving, and he’s out of options, eliminating his seat on the shuttle.

Mike Baumann, Jacob Webb, Keegan Akin, Bryan Baker, Nick Vespi, Bruce Zimmermann and Dillon Tate also are on the 40-man roster. Tate didn’t pitch this year due to forearm and elbow injuries but is throwing off a mound and raising the level of optimism within the organization over his ability to recapture his 2022 form and regain high-leverage responsibilities.

“I had forgotten about Dillon Tate,” González said. “You forget about him because he wasn’t around, right? But I didn’t forget how valuable he was to us. You put Dillon Tate in that equation with Kimbrel, and we don’t know what the other guys (Hall and Wells) are going to do as far as what Mike and Brandon want to do, but that’s a strong bullpen. And we’re going to need it.

“As you know, our division just keeps getting a little better every year.”

The Orioles are counting on Kimbrel to assist in keeping them on top of it.