3 White Sox trades that send Craig Kimbrel back to the Cubs
At the 2021 Major League Baseball trade deadline, the Chicago White Sox traded Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Craig Kimbrel. The best reliever on the trade block was acquired by Rick Hahn and it was a great move for the White Sox.
Well, it was only a good move for the White Sox for about a week. Kimbrel was not very good for the White Sox at all in the second half of the season after dominating with the Cubs during the first half to the point where he was an All-Star.
Madrigal and Heuer are going to have great careers and it would have been much better to have them on the south side for their entire careers. Heuer would have been better than Kimbrel down the stretch and into the players which is really sad to think about.
However, the past is the past. The White Sox can’t undo the trade. Instead, they can put their best foot forward because this roster is absolutely loaded with talent. They can either try and get the best version of Kimbrel or they can try to trade him.
The Chicago White Sox could try to trade Craig Kimbrel back to the Chicago Cubs.
If they traded him, they could try to send him back to the Chicago Cubs if they felt they needed a late-inning reliever. They won’t get back what they gave up for him but they can get something of value if the Cubs felt they needed him back.
Codi Heuer is out for the year after surgery so you never know what they are thinking. They aren’t as good as the Milwaukee Brewers or St. Louis Cardinals but they are going to try and be a playoff team now that there is an extra berth in each league. These three trade packages could get it done:
The Chicago White Sox could try to land a player looking for a second chance.
The Chicago Cubs are going to give Clint Frazier a second chance in Major League Baseball after he didn’t work out for the New York Yankees in all the years prior. He wasn’t given the proper chance there and is looking to thrive somewhere else.
He has yet to play a single game for the Chicago Cubs which makes this interesting but it could happen. The Cubs have no reason to keep him if an opportunity to better the team is out there. Adding a reliever like Kimbrel who has already been good there back could really help.
The Cubs have plenty of outfield help, especially with the addition of Seiya Suzuki to the mix. Frazier is probably not slated to be an everyday starter there but he could make a big impact on the White Sox if he had a good year.
The White Sox are in desperate need of a right fielder. That has been an issue all offseason long and it is only getting worse with each passing day. Frazier certainly wouldn’t be the permanent solution but he is another person to try out there while getting rid of Kimbrel’s contract. Both teams could see benefit from a trade like this.
The Chicago White Sox should be looking for help in the outfield in this trade.
Craig Kimbrel has had an outstanding Major League career. He is most likely going to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the greatest closers who ever lived. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been a good fit for the Chicago White Sox up to this point. Things could change but they could also stay the same.
The Chicago Cubs might feel that they can get Kimbrel right back to where he was for them at the time of the trade last summer. Then, if they are a bad team again, they could trade him once again to another team that needs a closer. Everybody in Chicago wins with this trade scenario.
The White Sox won’t get the same return back. Michael Hermosillo is a nice player but he doesn’t equal the value of Madrigal or Heuer separate let alone together. However, the White Sox need to accept their losses and move on.
Hermosillo is a player that had a terrible batting average but a very good slugging percentage for the Cubs in 2021. A player like that might be an okay fit as long as he can come to the south side and play some good defensive right field.
The Chicago White Sox could go for a prospect in a trade for Craig Kimbrel as well.
The Chicago White Sox has an elite baseball team at the Major League level. A lot of this has come because of their top prospects graduating to the MLB level and becoming impact players. Now, they are trying to build their farm back up as this has forced them to take some hits in the minors.
That is natural when you rebuild but the key to sustained success is keeping the prospects flowing while you win at the Major League level. that is especially true when you trade some of these prospects for MLB-ready talent in a pennant race.
The White Sox could use Craig Kimbrel to try and get prospects instead of just going for MLB-ready talent. That is probably the smart idea, although it is not the most visually appealing. A player like Kevin Alcantara would make a fantastic fit in this organization.
Alcantara came to the Cubs in the trade that sent Anthony Rizzo to the New York Yankees last season. He is currently ranked as the number seven prospect in the Cubs system. His estimated MLB arrival projection is for the 2024 season.
He is an outfielder looking to eventually make it to the big leagues. At 19 years old, the potential is certainly there. Acquiring a guy like that would really help the White Sox farm for a long time. If the Cubs were willing to part with a prospect for Kimbrel, this is one to target.
There are no rumors connecting these two teams with Kimbrel by any means. This is just exploring the idea of bringing him back to the north side so he can try and regain his form in one of the places where he is the most comfortable. Hopefully, regardless of how this Kimbrel story ends, the White Sox are better for it.
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