Twins need to avoid Craig Kimbrel like the plague after getting DFA'd by Orioles

After a month of sinking down the AL Central standings and to the edge of the playoff picture, the Minnesota Twins might finally be turning things around.

It's an incredibly small sample size, but a gutsy win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday suggests that there's still gas left in the tank. How much further it gets the Twins is yet to be seen, but they're not as finished as they seemed a week ago.

That doesn't mean things are fixed, though.

Minnesota's bullpen is a major liability, and a potentially fatal flaw that could result in a quick playoff exit. Even Griffin Jax, who is one of the best relievers in baseball, showed some cracks this week and allowed a go-head home run in a loss.

This isn't a new problem, which is why everytime a reliever hits waivers the ears of Twins fans perk up. When it comes to Craig Kimbrel, who was mercifully DFA'd by the Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota should look the other way.

Twins shouldn't look to Craig Kimbrel for bullpen help, despite the glaring need

It says a lot about just how bad Kimbrel has been that a team as desperate as the Twins are for bullpen help would probably be worse off by adding him. There's a chance he recaptures some of his vintage magic, but even a team that likes to take fliers on brand name stars past their prime like Minnesota shouldn't be bothered.

Kimbrel has been atrocious this year posting a 5.33 ERA, 1.357 WHIP, 71 ERA+, and while he has a 31.5 percent strikeout rate, his fastball is down from where it was last year when he similarly wasn't that great.

He also has some money left on a $13 million contract that a financially anemic team like the Twins wouldn't touch with a fishing pole.

Beyond how he doesn't statistically make sense for the Twins, he'd only be useful to the team for a short amount of time. The cutoff date for players being postseason eligible has passed, which means Kimbrel can play remaining regular season games but won't be allowed on Minnesota's AL Wild Card roster.

It looks to be the sad ending to an otherwise decent career. Getting DFA'd by the Orioles won't be how Kimbrel is remembered, as his story will be told through the lens of how he helped the Red Sox win a World Series.

His story, though, is one that the Twins don't need to get involved.

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