7 potential trade destinations and returns for Craig Kimbrel
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies could really use Craig Kimbrel in their bullpen.
When the news broke that the White Sox were first looking to trade Kimbrel the first team that was linked to him were the Phillies. It makes sense. Last season, the Phillies were on the outside looking in of the playoffs. It wasted an MVP performance from Bryce Harper and a stellar season from Zack Wheeler who was a Cy Young finalist.
The reason they had to watch the playoffs on the couch was because of the bullpen. They set a major league record for blown saves in a season with 34. They lost the division by 6.5 games. Had they converted half of those they would have won the division.
The Phillies ranked 25th in the majors with a 4.60 bullpen ERA. They also had the third-worst bullpen in the MLB in terms of fWAR. Their 1.1 fWAR was slightly ahead of the Nationals and Diamondback, not exactly the company you want to be in.
Dave Dombrowski will likely make a push to acquire Kimbrel. He was always aggressive in his days in Detroit. The Phillies have plenty of assets to offer. They have two prospects in Baseball America’s top 100. They also have Jean Segura who could be the White Sox solution at second base.