Ex-Padres closer signed in desperate move to rescue AL West playoff push

The Houston Astros are reaching into the past in a last-ditch attempt to patch their bullpen. Former San Diego Padres closer Craig Kimbrel who racked up 39 saves for the club in 2015, is headed back to the majors on a deal with Houston, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

It’s a signing that blends nostalgia with necessity. The Astros, locked in a heated AL West playoff chase, just lost Josh Hader to a shoulder capsule strain. That injury left them scrambling for answers in the ninth inning. Ironically, the same Hader who once held down the closer role in San Diego himself.

Ex-Padres closer Craig Kimbrel joins Astros in high-stakes playoff move

Kimbrel, now 37, is hardly the dominant flamethrower he was during his heyday, but Houston is banking on the idea that there’s still something left in the tank. For a team fighting to keep pace down the stretch, the gamble is as much about survival as it is about upside.

Kimbrel’s 2025 season has been strange even by journeyman standards. He began the year with Atlanta, appeared in just one game, then was designated for assignment. From there, he latched on with the Texas Rangers, grinding through two months in Triple-A before requesting his release. Houston is now handing him what could be one final shot at big-league relevance.

San Diego fans will remember Kimbrel’s lone season in 2015. He logged a 2.58 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings and converted 39 saves. That year remains the only season between 2011 and 2018 in which he wasn’t named an All-Star. Since then, he’s worn a carousel of uniforms, delivering flashes of brilliance but also some very public meltdowns.

His most recent stop came with the Orioles in 2024, where he saved 23 games but unraveled after the All-Star break, giving up 20 earned runs in 17 innings. That collapse cratered his market and set the stage for his wandering 2025 campaign.

The Astros aren’t expecting peak Kimbrel. They just need someone who can take pressure off Bryan Abreu and stabilize a bullpen that still features solid left-handed options in Steven Okert, Bryan King, and Bennett Sousa. If Kimbrel can channel even shades of his Padres or Red Sox form, this could be the low-risk, high-drama signing that helps Houston survive September.

If not? Astros fans may find themselves reliving Baltimore’s 2024 nightmare. And Padres fans could nod knowingly, remembering the brief but electric flash of what once was.

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