Cody Allen Getting an $8.5 Million Deal Proves Craig Kimbrel's Delayed Signing Was an Atrocity

New Cubs right-handed reliever Craig Kimbrel had to wait more than two months into the regular season before finally getting his opportunity, signing a three-year, $43 million contract last week.

If that didn't seem crazy enough, here's some quick-hitting offseason analysis to make you even more shocked.

Fellow reliever Cody Allen signed with the Angels for one year and $8.5 million during the offseason. So far, he's posted a 6.26 ERA with just four saves in 2019 after being named the Angels' closer in spring training. Perhaps you see the problem, especially after he was designated for assignment following Friday night's shellacking.

The #Angels have DFA’d Cody Allen and recalled Taylor Cole.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) June 15, 2019

Unreal. Imagine if the Angels didn't try to bargain hunt? They wouldn't have wasted almost $9 million.

Kimbrel, who is the active saves leader in MLB, was done wrongly by teams in free agency who focused on a not-so-great postseason performance in 2018 instead of a career resume that spans nearly a decade and has him on a potential Hall of Fame track.

Cody Allen was almost apologetic about the way he pitched. He was thankful to the #Angels for giving him a chance.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) June 15, 2019

Meanwhile, while Cody Allen had some great seasons in Cleveland, he's definitely not Craig Kimbrel, and the Indians didn't re-sign him for 2019, indicating how they felt about his relief work.

Hard to believe that Cody Allen, who signed a one year, $8.5 million contract to be thr #Angels closer, has been designated for assignment just three months later.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 15, 2019

The former Indians and Angels right-hander did save at least 30 games between 2015 and 2017 and posted a 2.99 ERA or better over that span. However, 2018 did Allen in, as he posted a 4.70 ERA despite saving 27 games. It makes sense that the Angels believed in Allen's ability to close out games, but if Kimbrel's delayed deal showed us anything, it's that MLB's free agent system is deeply flawed.