The Chicago Cubs have reached an agreement with free agent closer Craig Kimbrel, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:

Rosenthal had reported earlier this morning that the Cubs were getting aggressive in their pursuit of Kimbrel, although team president Theo Epstein merely said before tonight's game against the Colorado Rockies that the Cubs would do their due diligence in negotiations:

Kimbrel provides the Cubs with a bona fide closer and added depth in the bullpen. Chicago had initially inserted Pedro Strop into the closer role, with the expectation that Brandon Morrow would resume those duties as soon as he was healthy.

But with Strop having dealt with a litany of hamstring issues and Morrow's timetable still unclear, the Cubs were forced to go with a “committee” look at the end of games. Chicago currently ranks 28th in the MLB in terms of save percentage, with 11 blown saves this year.

Kimbrel's presence at the back end allows Strop to return to the setup role, his more natural spot, and should have a butterfly effect on the rest of the bullpen unit.

For all of his struggles in the 2018 postseason, Kimbrel remains one of the elite closers in baseball. He tallied 42 saves last year, and his 13.9 K/9–which is a tremendous rate for any pitcher–was actually the second lowest of his career.

On top of those numbers, Kimbrel is the current leader in terms of ERA+, ahead of recently elected Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera.

With Kimbrel joining the mix, the Cubs might be the most complete team in the National League. He is likely to need at least 10 days before joining the big-league club, but the Cubs will be anxiously awaiting his arrival.