Citing desire to re-sign future free agents, Red Sox signal a willingness to move on from Craig Kimbrel

LAS VEGAS -- When the 2018 season ended, the return of free agent closer Craig Kimbrel to the Red Sox appeared to be something of a longshot.

When Kimbrel's agent let it be known at the GM Meetings last month that his client was looking for a six-year deal, his return seemed even less likely.

And Monday, on the first full day of the Winter Meetings, Dave Dombrowski all but slammed the door on Kimbrel's return altogether.

"We're not going to be overly aggressive on big expenditures with our relief closer at this point,'' said Dombrowski. "Our payroll is pretty high at this point. Without getting specific on Kimbrel, we're not looking to, per se, make a big expenditure in that area. So read that as you may.

"From a financial perspective, it's not going to be possible to keep everybody that we have. You have to realize anybody that you sign long-term now may have an effect on some other things you may do later on. So sometimes, there may be some scenarios where we're more interested in a short-term deal at this time. We're cognizant of a couple of really important guys that we want to keep for the long-term that are going to be free agents in the next year or two. So that's in the back of our mind.''

As presently constituted, the Red Sox will commit more than $220 million to their 2019 payroll when all of their many salary arbitration-eligible players are signed. That, coupled with the looming specter of upcoming free agents Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts (along with an opt-out opportunity for J.D. Martinez following 2019), means the Red Sox have to be mindful of big outlays.

That doesn't just price out Kimbrel. It could also mean the Red Sox won't be players for the likes of Zach Britton or Andrew Miller, while focusing on more affordable options such as Kelvin Herrera, who is coming off a down season and is recovering from a foot injury.

The Sox could also fill their vacancy internally.

"We like a lot of guys in our bullpen,'' said Dombrowski. "(Ryan) Brasier did a good job for us, (Matt) Barnes did a good job for us. We've got (Brandon) Workman, we've got (Heath) Hembree. We like Bobby Poyner from last year and we picked up Colten Brewer. So somebody might end up helping us out there. But I don't have anything definitive on that -- it's somewhat dependent on the cost of acquisition.

"There are a lot of relievers out there at this point.''

Indeed there are. In addition to Britton and Miller, David Robertson, Jeurys Familia, Cody Allen and Adam Ottavino are available. But each will likely be looking for multi-year commitments at a time when the Sox are intent on limiting their commitments for the future.

Dombrowski also revealed that the Red Sox don't necessarily need to have an established closer in place prior to the start of spring training.

"Obviously, with Barnes and Brasier, we feel comfortable they can get outs late in games,'' noted Alex Cora. "We don't have to name a closer before spring training.''

A few promising arms in the minor league system could also be groomed for the closer's role in 2020 and beyond. Darwinzon Hernandez is still regarded as a starter by the Red Sox, but it's worth noting that they used him out of the bullpen in the Arizona Fall League last month.

Additionally, the team's third-round selection in last June's draft, Durbin Feltman, is regarded by many evaluators as a potential major league closer in the future.

It's less certain where the Red Sox stand with Joe Kelly, another key contributor from 2018 who is also a free agent.

"We're aware of what's going on with his situation,'' said Dombrowski, "and that's where we stand."