Chicago White Sox: 3 fair trade packages for Craig Kimbrel
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:
The Chicago White Sox could look for prospects in exchange for Craig Kimbrel.
The Philadelphia Phillies came up short in 2021. A lot of people expected them to be a decent team and they were but they weren’t good enough to be a playoff team in the NL East. Bryce Harper turned in an MVP level season and it wasn’t good enough for the team around him. That is why they will look to bolster their roster over the winter.
Craig Kimbrel would be a great addition to the Phillies as their closer. Hector Neris had an up and down 2021 season in that role and is about to hit free agency. The Phillies would probably see Kimbrel as an upgrade as long as they were able to use him the right way. The White Sox learned the hard way that not using him as a closer isn’t a good idea.
Of course, Dave Dombrowski has traded for Kimbrel once before. As the GM of the Boston Red Sox, Dombrowski made a huge deal to bring over Kimbrel and they eventually won a World Series together. There is reason to believe that he would do that again.
Mickey Moniak is a former number one overall pick in the MLB Draft that the Phillies just haven’t been able to develop. If the White Sox brought him in, he could be a candidate to play right field for them going forward. It isn’t a guarantee that it would work but a change of scenery might be just what he needs.
Adding in Kyle Dohy and Gunner Mayer as extra prospects in the trade would make it even more worth it for both teams. They aren’t top-level prospects but you never know what happens when these guys start to develop more. The Phillies might need the Sox to retain a bit on Kimbrel in a deal like this which would be smart to do if you are Rick Hahn. This feels like a good match.
The New York Mets and Chicago White Sox would be great trade partners this winter.
The Chicago White Sox and New York Mets would be great partners in a Craig Kimbrel deal. They could always use help in their bullpen as the last few years haven’t gone well for them. 2021 was a year that they blew a big-time lead in the division to the Atlanta Braves who are now in the NLCS and four wins away from a World Series berth. Adding a closer like Kimbrel, if he plays well, would go a long way for them.
Of course, in order for any of these trades to work for the team acquiring Kimbrel, he would need to pitch more like the Cubs version of him in 2021 than the White Sox version. If the Mets used him as a traditional closer, chances are that they would see good results.
Junior Santos is a right-handed pitcher that is currently low in the Minor Leagues. If he became an MLB player, it would probably be a few years down the line. He currently sits as the Mets’ number 14 prospect. As for Luke Ritter, he is someone that can play second and first. Ritter is, as of right now, is the 28th prospect in their organization.
Neither of these players is a lock to be anything at the MLB level but that is the type of return you should expect in a Craig Kimbrel deal. The Mets and White Sox could both benefit from a trade like this if everyone involved does their job right.
The Chicago White Sox could trade Craig Kimbrel out west this offseason.
The Oakland Athletics are known as the “Moneyball” team. They don’t spend a lot on their payroll but they turn out good teams year in and year out. They do it because they have a good development program along with good decision-making on who they spend their money with. For some reason, they weren’t able to keep their good season going deep into 2021 and failed to make the playoffs.
The A’s lost Liam Hendriks to the White Sox last winter. Since then, they haven’t had a big-time closer. Trevor Rosenthal missed the entire year with an injury which made Lou Trivino the closer. He was good in that role as he had 22 saves and a 3.18 ERA over 73.2 innings pitched. However, if Craig Kimbrel went there and played his best in that role, it would be an upgrade.
Knowing the nature of the A’s organization, the White Sox might need to retain some salary in order to get a deal done. That would be worth it to get some good prospects back in return. Jorge Juan is a right-handed pitcher that is currently the number 21 prospect in their system. Austin Beck, their number 28 prospect, is an outfielder. Both players finished the season in high A.
We don’t know for sure what the White Sox will get from a Kimbrel trade in the offseason but it does sound real that it will happen at some point. There is also a possibility that a team comes out of nowhere to make a deal involving Kimbrel. It will surely be interesting to see what the return will be and how that team handles him once the 2022 season starts.
Related Story. 2021 was a very important year for the White Sox. light