The White Sox will exercise their $16MM club option to retain reliever Craig Kimbrel, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). When first acquired at the trade deadline (for Codi Heuer and Nick Madrigal), it seemed a foregone conclusion that Chicago would pick up this option, but after a difficult half season on the south side, there was some lingering doubt.
Kimbrel was among the best relievers in the game for the Cubs during the first half of 2021, posting an insane 0.49 ERA/1.10 FIP over 36 2/3 innings while notching 23 saves. After moving to the American League, however, Kimbrel was tagged for a 5.04 ERA/4.56 FIP in 23 innings for the White Sox.
The Sox certainly gave up a lot to get Kimbrel, so it’s not shocking that they would try to get some more out of their investment. Of course, Kimbrel is also one of the most dominant closers of the past 20 years, and his full season numbers (2.26 ERA, 42.6 percent strikeout rate) suggest he’s well worth a $16MM price tag.
The short-term commitment could also make Kimbrel an interesting trade chip, should the White Sox look to make a move. In fact, Jon Heyman of MLB Network names Kimbrel as a trade chip (via Twitter), while Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune goes so far as to say they will “try to deal Kimbrel.”
No surprise. But the question is do they keep him or do they trade him
Sox got fleeced
“Kimbrel is one of the most dominant STARTERS of the past 20 years?” I didn’t know Kimbrel was a starter.
Dude has a 0.00 ERA as a starter in his major league career. I’d say that is pretty dominant.
Small sample size lol
What do you expect from TC Zencka? This is the same careless lazy stooge that wrote an article in which a guy named Rodriguez turned into a guy named Martinez halfway through the article. He doesn’t care enough about his own work or his audience to correct his mistakes.
Reliever nop started ♂️♂️♂️♂️
OK, TC made a strange typo. That aside Kimbrel is the most lights out reliever I’ve seen in a long time. I hope the Sox see this as an athlete having trouble switching playgrounds. Almost perfect with the Cubs. Good the Sox didn’t quit on him.
You know he plays half his games outside of his “playground.”
NL vs AL, very big playground, very different
Have you ever switched jobs? New people, new culture, new atmosphere. If you haven’t, do you think its easy?
They need to trade him if they don’t let him close. He’s pissed because La Russa is deliberately screwing him out of the Hall of Fame.
Deliberately? Kimbrel stunk and LaRussa had Hendriks who did a darn good job. But I get what you’re saying in that Kimbrel is a stat guy and wants saves. It must have been eating him alive to be an 8th-inning guy.
miltpappas2 hours ago
Deliberately?
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Some of these posters are beyond ridiculous. Hendriks was easily the best RP in BB over the past three years. He had a 7.9 fWAR and Hader was #2 with a 5.1 fWAR. He was #3 in saves. He was #1 in ERA for anyone > 100 IPS.
The manager would have to be insane to give Kimbrel save opportunities simply because Kimbrel ‘wants to get into the HOF’. That’s just beyond preposterous.
There is no reason why he and Hendriks couldn’t simply alternate closing games – with a fresh 9th inning!!
Starting a new trend? It’s an unwritten rule in baseball to pull your closer.
They will trade him for a 2nd basemen or right fielder
I’d be happy if they could trade him for a shut down 8th inning reliever!
His putting up a 5.00+ era is Kimbrel screwing himself, not LaRussa.
My guess is Kimbrel didn’t like the the playpen in ChiSox land
I see below (above?) that you are on a hard sell with this fake news.
Players get into the Hall off stellar efforts over time. If pouting is ever considered “stellar”, long or short-term, please let me know.
This seems like a reckless use of $16M.
Trade. Won’t recoup what they gave up but at least get something back ⚾️
Did not expect that
Trade him to Philly for Didi and Moniak…
Interesting idea. But what would ChiSox do with both Gregorious and Anderson in 2022?
Didi 2B?
2B. Didi needs to move away from SS…
Dumb, what do you think you’re going to get for him at 16m for a guy who has been very inconsistent the last couple of years. They would have been better off using that 16m to make other improvements.
Facts.
He’s not inconsistent. He held out until June to sign in 2019 due to comp pick and no guy has ever been good without spring training (remember how badly Kendry Morales and Stephen Drew struggled after holding out until June back in 2013?) and 2020 was a shortened covid season. Those 2 seasons was literally a 30 inning sample size combined, which is like a 2 month workload under normal circumstances. He pitched more innings in the 1st half of 2021 than 2019 and 2020 combined and he was dominant. Then La Russa deliberately tried to screw Kimbrel out of the Hall of Fame, so he mailed it in. His twitter profile literally calls himself a closer. He has no interest wasting bullets as a setup man and gets screwed out of the HOF, so they should either use him as a closer or trade him.
0.49 ERA in the first half, 5.04 in the second. Kind of defines inconsistent. You can list all the reasons or excuses for the inconsistency that you want, it’s still inconsistent.
If a manager thinks his team has a better chance of winning a game by using a reliever in the 8th inning, facing the top of the order, then he should use him thusly. If Kimbrel can’t adjust to that then it is his bad. The notion that a “closer” can only be used in the ninth is nutso. Win the game, adapt.
La Russa is the one who started using the closer in only the ninth inning.
He was terrible during the Sox 18 World Series run and was walking a tight rope that entire season.
Parts of your comment are reasonable, but one part is completely illogical. Why do you think “La Russa deliberately tried to screw Kimbrel out of the Hall of Fame?” Why would La Russia care if Kimberly gets in the HOF? Please think before posting.
JakeFromStateFromm2 hours ago
Then La Russa deliberately tried to screw Kimbrel out of the Hall of Fame
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I’d like to hear your explanation for this, otherwise, you sound like a stony. How did LaRussa try to screw Kimbrel? Did La Russa doctor the ball before Kimbrel threw it?
I don’t think Kimbrel adding 15-20 scoreless innings and 10-15 holds to his résumé was going to hurt his HOF chances more than absolutely sucking instead!!!
Low leverage since everyone knows they’re trying to trade him before the season. Could maybe get a second baseman?
He can’t possibly have trade value at that price tag unless Chi picks up half or more of his salary.
True. Unless the Phillies, who need a closer and bullpen help, are willing to give the Sox Jean Segura whose due $14.5 mil in 2022 and a club option of $17 mil in 2023.
The Phillies arent trading a better piece of their lineup for a reliever that doesnt save them any money.
I’d try to push Didi ($14M) on them first, before Segura, plus offer another player like Moniak (preferably) or Haseley…
Decent point but they’re gonna spend anyway in free agency getting a closer and more relief help.
They’ll probably cover part of his salary in order to acquire a decent prospect
Big mistake trading away Madrigal for him, White Sox have some super talented guys but that Front Office has no idea how to build a team for the playoffs
In fairness, trying to build a lockdown bullpen is a good strategy for the playoffs. Kimbrel regressed after the trade.
He also had to work through a complete role change going from being the “go to” closer to being the setup guy.
but did they really have to deal Madrigal for said lockdown bullpen?
It’s a bad strategy because they never gave him a fair shot to close. If they just wanted to fortify their bullpen, they could’ve acquired a dominant setup man (think Andrew Chafin) for a lot less. Kimbrel’s entire big league career has been about making it to the Hall of Fame and La Russa is destroying his HOF chances. He got greedy in 2019 by holding out until June and screwed himself that year. Then covid happened in 2020. He literally got only 30 innings of work in those 2 years combined, which is like a 2.5 months workload in normal circumstances. Get this, dude pitched more innings in the 1st half of this year than 2019 and 2020 combined and he was lights out. He mailed it in with the White Sox because he doesn’t want to waste bullets being the setup man. His twitter bio literally says “CLOSER for the Chicago White Sox”.
There is a good chance that Kimbrel regressed because they switched him from closer to setup.
Can’t agree more.
Always felt there was an outside shot he or Hendriks could be moved this offseason should the White Sox wish to relocate those funds towards improving the club in other areas or simply just restock the farm a little. It’s one thing to want two great bullpen arms down the stretch, but it’s another to pay $29 million combined for them. Even with Kimbrel’s struggles, I think a team would take a shot on him for a year at $16 million.
The White Sox have plenty of payroll space to carry both Hendricks and Kimbrel for 2022.
It doesn’t matter. Kimbrel will be a net negative and toxic in the locker room until they give him a fair chance to be the closer. He wants to make the Hall of Fame. His entire career has been about building a HOF resume, so he’s clearly disgruntled. He literally calls himself the White Sox CLOSER in his twitter bio.
Payroll space and owner Jerry reisnsdorf don’t go together.
The man is getting old. He sees the fading light. He wants a championship.
He has seven combined championships owning the Bulls and White Sox. Though, it is stretching it to say combined lol
That’s why I said trading one is just an outside shot. Great teams don’t always have high payrolls, but they’re always smart about most of the dollars spent.
“Kimbrel is also one of the most dominant starters in the past 20 years”. Starter?
9th inning starter..?
I said the same thing. I think he might have meant stars. Sometimes I type star and autocorrect turns it to starter.
TC strikes again!
In fairness….he has won EVERY game he has started.
16 million for a reliever, who struggled as soon as he got traded to your club. I don’t know, 16 million can be used in so much better ways imo. Isnt Rodon a free agent? thats 16 million you could use to retain your starting pitcher who came off a big year. I’m not a know it all, but this is why gm’s get fired.
We’ll find out shortly whether the White Sox will officially extend a QO to Carlos Rodon. The answer figures to be they will based on Rick Hahn’s comments from Friday’s press conference. This is not to say that Rodon will accept the QO during his 10-day decision period but you never know considering all his health issues.
The wild card is Rodon’s agent, Scott Boras. That said, the White Sox did non-tender Rodon last December and still brought him back with a FA contract below his expected arbitration number. The team could still discuss a longer term contract for Rodon while he contemplates the QO offer in the coming days.
It’s a huge gamble. They won’t find a trade partner at that price, and even if he kills it during the first half, will CWS trade him if they’re in first in the ALC? If his second half struggles continue they’ll only be able to get rid of him if they pay his contract way down and/or take on somebody else’s albatross. Not seeing much upside to this decision.
@Sol you’re not seeing upside to this decision because there is none.
When was the last time Kimbrel started TC?
Idiot
LOL and they want people tp pay for this trash
didn’t know he was a starter
It doesn’t need to be accurate if it’s first.
I don’t think Kimbrel was ever comfortable in a setup role.
And he’ll never be, especially when La Russa puts him in with men on base. He wants to close (literally says so on his twitter bio) because he wants to make the Hall of Fame and he doesn’t want to get put in with men on base.because closers never get put in that situation. He almost always let everyone inherit runners score because he’s pissed and doesn’t care about blowing up his teammates’ ERA.
I miss Madrigal 🙁
Madgiral is just glorified David Fletcher lol
Not even. He’s a poor man’s Ryan Theriot.
One proposal on BTV has Kimbrel for A. Frazier. Win-win there. Maybe Sox have to kick in a couple mil, but I really like this idea.
Would be a good trade for the Sox, but too good to actually happen.
Frazier fell off hard in the 2H last year, too. Both teams would be trading a redundancy for a need.
There was tremendous upside trading for him this past season and I commend the White Sox for going for it.
It would be a tough pill to swallow to let him walk after giving up so much in prospects for him. It’s a smart move by the White Sox. If they’re doing well next season, they’re not going to trade him at the deadline.
Some gambles work out, some don’t. Last season did not, but it’s a new season so you might as well see what you’ve got in him.
He’s gonna keep mailing it in unless/until La Russa gives him a fair chance to be the closer. He clearly wants to make the Hall of Fame and La Russa is wasting his prime.
His prime was way back in Atlanta. That was a long time ago.
Fair chance? Kimbrel had a 5.09 ERA for the WS. Hendriks had a 2.54. That’s almost exactly double. Hendriks was one of the best RPs in baseball.
JoeBrady is good at maths
While Kimbrel still did give up run(s) too frequently, it was two outings (surrendered 3 runs in each of those outings) that really skew his performance for the White Sox. Take out those two appearances and his ERA was roughly 3.
I predict the pale hose will be sorry!
C’mon TC. Fix your error.
What a Jekyll and Hyde season
Dude is stoked. On the open market he’d be in the second tier of relievers now.
If Madrigal can play next season and stays injury free it was a steal for the Cubs. I don’t buy the thing about Kimbrel not caring when he got to the White Sox. Pushing too hard yes. He does allow hits/walks and is not the best as a set up man.
Send him and Burger to SDP for Frazier…
Burger is useless. He is a negative value in a trade.
So two negative value players for Adam Frazier?
No one is accusing A.J. Preller of being a good GM, but even he’s not that dumb.
Good, now call Dipoto and figure out a Kimbrel package for Haniger.
Maybe he’ll be the opener 4 days a week?
Instead of acknowledging they made a bad deal and moving on, they are either saddling themselves with an overpriced reliever, or taking on another team’s terrible contract, hoping to get something out of him. It’s just not a wise use of assets. Nothing they get for Kimbrel will rival what they could have used that money with in FA.
@ Max Agreed, just a brutally dumb move. The only reason I hold any hope for this team is that Reinsdorf’s net worth supposedly increased from 1.5B in 2020 to 1.7 now. So he is up 200M in a year, believable with a bonkers stock market. The only chance this team has is taking the payroll up close to 200M and getting in on Semien or Baez at 2b, and Castellanos or Marte in RF. Reinsdorf may want to try to win once more before the end of his life, so upping the payroll by 50M after netting 200 isn’t out of the realm of possibility, no matter how cheap he usually is. Otherwise this team will probably never win a thing other than the AL Central.
Morons. The guy got shelled there for two months. Should have rejected the option and outbid everyone for significantly less than 16 million if they really wanted him back that badly.
Sorry to hear this for Kimbrel’s sake. He was on point all year after returning to his dominant self as Cub closer, then…TLR didn’t have a clue and moved him to set-up role. That’s why he sucked as a Sox pitcher. If Sux can’t see that, well…again sorry for Craig. What a waste!
Adolpho671 hour ago
TLR didn’t have a clue
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I’m not a WS fan, so maybe I am mis-remembering, but don’t the WS already have a closer? IIRC, maybe his name is Hendriks? And, doesn’t he have one of the highest closer contracts in baseball? In fact, if I had to take a guess, I’d guess that Hendriks was easily the best closer in baseball over the past three years.
Now explain again who it is that has no clue?
You?
I’ll type slowly for you this time, okay?
You don’t trade 2 pieces off your MLB roster for a HOF-type closer with a 0.49 ERA, then decide to switch him to a set-up role. Closers are given that job because they thrive on ninth inning pressure.
If TLR indeed has the best closer in baseball as you said, why would you trade 2 mlb players for another closer with HOF credentials? Just dumb and even dumber to defend it.
I am trying to keep it simple for you. Hendriks is better. The manager is supposed to use his closer for situations that require a closer. It makes absolutely -0- difference if Kimbrel wants to make the HOF or not. TLR would have to be an idiot to use a guy with a 5.09 ERA, when he has a closer with a 2.54 ERA.
Now, if your point is that the WS should not have traded for an AS closer, when they already had an AS closer, I agree 100%.. But TLR isn’t really the GM, is he?
In fact, I’d take it one step further and suggest that not only did Kimbrel sink, his appearance also derailed Kopech. Kopech was dominant in the BP. He had an ERA of 1.52 prior to the trade, with 9 multi-inning appearances. He was basically the WS equivalent of Whitlock. After the trade, he had an ERA of 6.43.
But regardless of how Kopech did, there is no way you take Hendriks out of the closer role.
They didn’t trade 2 pieces off their roster. Nick slappy Madrigal was out for the season and was kind of a butthead during his limited time
Yeah you’re right…TLR would have to be an idiot to use a guy with a 0.49 ERA and 22/23 saves over his own guy with a 2.54.
Dominant starters? You mean relievers.
Keith Law speculated that Kimbrel would get 10M as a free agent. I mean, what team is going to trade a good prospect to pay Kimbrel more than they would if he were a free agent? He was bad in 2019, 2020, and in the 2nd half of 2021. They won’t be able to move him without picking up half his salary. Just more predictable dumb nonsense from the Sox front office.
Trade him in a package deal for a 2B or RF.
I’ll trade you akiyama and Justin Wilson for Kimbrel. Sox chip in around 5 million to offset the difference in salary
I don’t ever want to hear White Sox fans say Jerry Reinsdorf won’t spend money. Kimbrel wouldn’t sniff this on the open market. Getting fleeced once is bad, doubling down for more punishment is sadistic. White Sox pro scouts suck hind t i t.
So after 40 years of pinching pennies, you want to give J.R. credit for spending the way he’s supposed to? Chicago sports fans are a tortured lot,
Sox payroll was 15th last year, part of their window of contention, after being near last in MLB a few years ago. He is hardly “spending the way he’s supposed to” by picking up a 16M option on a guy that will be difficult to trade, and probably close to useless to them if they can’t. We can only hope his massive stock market windfalls and being near the end of his life will change his willingness to spend for a couple winters. His net worth is closer to 2 billion than 1, and supposedly up ~200M since 2020. He could up the payroll by only 50M of that and get it close to 200M, and make this a legit team. The narrative that they “can’t spend like a big market team” is and has always been pure nonsense.
I was being sarcastic… of course J.R. should spend more. You missed my point, which.
Sorry missed your point, was mostly replying to the sentiment of the post you responded to. Saw a couple of your other posts and agree with you, this team is constructed to fail currently. But seeing JR’s net worth up 200M in a year is a pretty staggering number. He can up the payroll by 1/4 of that and make some real improvements with guys like Semien, Castellanos. The fans are the reason Reinsdorf is as rich as he is in the first place. It’s about time he gave something back to them rather than hoarding and making excuses. If he bumped the payroll up by 50M it wouldn’t even mean that he would lose money, only that he might make a bit less. After netting 200 million in a year. I will be done as a fan unless he comes through with real free agent signings this winter. There is flat out no “reason” other than greed that he would not spend like any fan wishes he would for a couple years at least.
White Sox fans fervently advocated for Ethan Katz as Cooper’s replacement. So Katz, if you fixed Rodon and Giolito, then work your magic on Kimbrel. If the Cubs’ pitching coach fixed him, so can you.
This looks like a bad move. Even if Kimbrel recovers, are the WS going to pay their setup guy $16M, and their closer $18M? And if they trade him, how many teams will trust him enough to give the closer spot to him AND pay $16M? Iglesias will cost a good bit less than that.
Even Yasmani couldn’t save Kimbrel.
Yasmani likely was part of the problem.
They’re not moving him without the White Sox covering a decent amount of his salary obviously. It will be interesting to see if the team that trades for him pencils him in as a closer or setup man.
“The Sox certainly gave up a lot to get Kimbrel, so it’s not shocking that they would try to get some more out of their investment.”
Stop it with the sunk cost theatre. The only question that matters here is would he or would he not get more than $15m as a free agent. If he wouldn’t then you decline the option and maybe bring him back for less $. You don’t overpay him just because you gave up Nick Madrigal.
“You don’t overpay him just because you gave up Nick Madrigal.”
Sadly, I think that Rick Hahn did just that. There is very, very little chance that Kimbrel would make 16M on the open market right now.
Ok then Rick Hahn needs to be fired. LIke I said before, the smart thing to do is to just accept the fact that trading Nick Madrigal was a mistake and move on.
I might agree that it’s decisions like this that have me scratching my head with Rick Hahn. I’m not sure this is “fire worthy”, at least not yet.
But Hahn has, for the second season in a row, significantly overpaid someone that has people wondering why. Last season it was Adam Eaton. Now, Craig Kimbrel.
I’m fairly confident the White Sox could have brought Kimbrel back for around 5-8M next year. But they paid 2-3 times his value, for what?
Long story short: for as much as White Sox fans made sure we all knew of Rick Hahn’s greatness last winter, he sure does make some bizarre decisions.
Most of the Sox off-season spending is going to be for pitching. They will not, let me repeat that, they will NOT sign any big money free agents like Semien or Castellanos. They need six starters. Lynn has a track record of falling off in the second half and Kopech, Rodon(?) need to be babied next year.
After the reasonably high cost of trading for Kimbrel did anyone really think the White Sox wouldn’t exercise his option?
I did.
You don’t pay a guy more than he’d get in free agency just because you overpaid for him in trade. That is called a sunk cost fallacy. What you do in that situation is accept that you made a mistake in trading Madrigal, decline the option and then maybe bring him back for less money.
jimthegoat2 hours ago
That is called a sunk cost fallacy.
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100% correct, but let me give you an alternative theory.
Instead of exercising Kimbrel to be the setup, or instead of having Hendrik be the setup, all for a rich total of $34M, how about trading Hendriks?
It’s an odd contract, with a 2024 team option of $15M, with a $15M buyout. I assume that means it is a $54M/4 contract for AAV purposes. It’s expensive, since it assumes he will be good until age 35, but he’s been pretty good.
Meh. Hendriks has been pretty close to unhittable the past 3 years. He might be approaching his decline years but most of the time decline is gradual rather than going from being elite to being a pumpkin in one calendar year. Even if Hendriks isn’t QUITE as good in 2024 he’s still probably worth the money.
The problem is, what will the White Sox get for Hendriks? He’s an aging reliever with an expensive contract.
His $15M buyout becomes guaranteed if he’s traded, so he’s still owed $42M over the next 3 seasons. Considering a team is already dropping that kind of cash, what kind of prospects would they also give up?
I can’t envision the White Sox getting much in return for him right now, regardless of how good he may be.
Maybe Mets will trade Cano for him.
How many times does a team trade for a high profile closer when they already have an effective closer? And how many times is it an epic fail? “No thank you, we have one already.” – Holy Grail
Yeah, the whole “Co-Closer” thing hasn’t worked since the “Nasty Boys” era in Cincinnati or at the very least since John Wettleland/Mel Rojas on the ’93-94 Expos.
More often you end up with a player you neither want or need just to keep them from playing for a team you may have to face in the playoffs (see Randy Myers and the ’98 Padres)
I’m always reminded of when the Nats traded for Papelbon. Storen was lights out. After he was demoted, he went from a 1.73 ERA before the trade to a 6.75 ERA after the trade. Paps was okay, with a 3.04 overall, but the Nats were worse for having made the trade.
On the positive side, it completed the RS circle of life, since the Phillies received Pivetta for Paps.
I was also thinking of Gagne with the Red Sox. He was like pouring gas on fires. Just awful.
Excellent example. To me, it is like signing a GG SS so you can shift him to 2B. You wind up paying the price of a SS, but only getting a 2B. If the WS wanted BP help, they should’ve traded for the best setup available, not the best closer available.
Doubling down an an error.
Reinsdorf is getting old. He sees the fading light. He wants a championship. He’ll overpay for a year of Kimbrel.
Tony sees the fading light. Oh wait. Flashing lights.
ChiSox have TA7 at SS and Cesar Hernandez for 2b in 2022. No need for DiDi and bust Moniak.
They’re not going to pick up Cesar’s option.
Would love to see the Marlins trade for him. I wish he was non tendered and a FA. Since he seems like he wants to close and nothing else in sure he wouldn’t have cost major dollars if the team said “You are the closer”
I guess they could still trade for them. If they had a competent closer from day one the season would have been way different. I’m not saying playoffs (I still dont think they get close) but they have 10 more wins at least and really hear in the right direction.
Serious question: How many relievers of his ilk move around as much? Is there something going on?
Its obvious that Reinsdorf is giving Hahn the green light to spend money for one more championship. As of right now Reinsdorf is the majority owner of NBC Sports Chicago that televise most of the White Sox games and Bulls games. Lets not forget Reinsdorf is worth over $2 billion and he owns both the White Sox and Bulls. In the meantime, the White Sox have a three year window to win one more championship with this team before all of the big money in the contracts for Jimenez, Robert, Moncada and Anderson are going to kick in while Giolito has two years left before free agency.
The one contract that is interesting to watch is the one Sox have on their books right now is Keuchel, which all depends on his health and performance. Keuchel needs to pitch over 160 innings in 2022 for his $20 million option in 2023 to kick in. Maybe Sox fans can see vintage Keuchel in 2022 because he is playing for that option!!!
The White Sox chances of winning a championship as constructed is impossible…
The lineup has too many streaky hitters. They need to add at least one everyday position player with consistent slugging capability.
They also need to better defense from their middle infielders. I love Tim, but he needs to be moved to 2nd base. Get one of the elite SSs in free agency, preferably one with better hands and range to play SS.
I’ll keep saying it until they do it—get Eloy out of LF! Move him to DH and be done with. Put Vaughn in LF, and trade for an EVERYDAY RF who can slug! No more experimentation! This team is on the brink of contention, it’d be stupid to waste that rotating bench players in RF to save a buck.
Lastly, Keuchel is washed up. Get him out of here, even if it means paying some desperate team to take him. He’s completely useless at this point.
Sox had bloody well better have a trade in mind. If they just shelled out $16M so their FO could claim they gave up Madrigal for a year and a half of Kimbrel instead of just a half year (instead of offering that money to Conforto on a make-good, S. Marte, or KB), they’re only going to look dumber.
No one has mentioned the possibility that Kimbrel might be good this year and actually help the Sox.
You have to assume that the organization has talked to Kimbrel and he wants to be part of this team. TLR has enough power if he felt Kimbrel was a cancer to the clubhouse he’d move him. The game has changed and if you can afford two elite closers, than you do so you can shorten a game.