The Chicago White Sox had a very good season with all things considered. They went in with mixed expectations after being a playoff team in the short (60 games) COVID-19 season. After a 93-69 season, they went into the playoffs as the American League Central Division champions. All of that happened with many different injuries hurting them throughout the season.
Luckily, the team was able to stay afloat until guys like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Yasmani Grandal came back from injury. That allowed them to be buyers at the trade deadline. They made two huge deals with the Chicago Cubs and one of them landed them Craig Kimbrel.
They gave the Cubs Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer in exchange for the right-handed reliever. Nick Madrigal is a good slap-hitting second baseman and Codi Heuer is a hard-throwing reliever that has a very bright future. It will be hard to see those guys play for the Cubs but this was the right move at the time.
Kimbrel is one of the greatest closers in the history of the sport. The White Sox, however, used him as a setup man and it failed. The trade didn’t work out as Kimbrel didn’t perform well as Liam Hendriks’ setup man. As a result, it sounds like the White Sox are going to move on.
The Chicago #WhiteSox are expected to pick up reliever Craig Kimbrel's $16 million option and then trade him during the winter. He badly struggled as a setup man, allowing 31 baserunners in 23 innings, including a 5.09 ERA. There will be plenty of teams looking for closers.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 13, 2021
The Chicago White Sox might be trading Craig Kimbrel away this winter.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the White Sox plan on picking up Craig Kimbrel’s 2022 team option and will then look to trade him away. If this report comes true, what will the trade look like? These are three trade packages that might get it done: