Stop us if you've heard this before: Craig Kimbrel is back in the major leagues.
The well-traveled righty is joining the Royals, who will be his 12th MLB team, according to The Post's Jon Heyman .
Once Kimbrel does get on the mound in Kansas City , he will then have pitched for more organizations than all but five pitchers in MLB history.
Relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel made 14 appearances for the Mets earlier this season. Getty Images
Edwin Jackson and Rich Hill both toed the rubber for 14 teams each, while Octavio Dotel and Roosevelt Davis pitched for 13 teams apiece.
Kimbrel, a nine-time All-Star, turned 38 back in May and has made 33 major league appearances in relief this season for the Mets and Rays , respectively, the former of whom oversaw 14.
He initially signed with the Mets on a minor league deal in January and put up a 6.00 ERA with the team, subsequently clearing waivers on May 25 after being designated for assignment days earlier.
He signed with the Rays on May 26 and recorded a 3.06 ERA until he was designated for assignment one day before the trade deadline on August 2. He cleared waivers again on August 6.
Kimbrel, who has a career ERA of 2.67, has put together a 4.78 ERA across 104 games played with five teams following his last All-Star bid in 2023.
At his peak, he was a fringe Cy Young contender, recording top-five finishes in 2012 and 2013 while closing for the Braves, and accumulating five seasons where he placed in top-10 of Cy Young voting, the last of which came in 2017 while with the Red Sox .
Craig Kimbrel also pitched 19 times for the Rays earlier this season. Getty Images
Once one of the most feared closers in baseball — with 440 career saves, fifth-most in MLB history — Kimbrel is looking to extend his career for one more run, joining the 49-70 Royals, who are 10.5 games out of playoff contention.
Kimbrel won a World Series title with Boston in 2018 and was part of a deep run more recently in 2023, where he and the Phillies pushed the Diamondbacks to a seven-game series in the NLCS.
