Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports; Reese Strickland/USA TODAY Sports
Six days before Opening Day, the Dodgers and White Sox agreed to a trade that sends closer Craig Kimbrel to Los Angeles for outfielder AJ Pollock.
The deal, which was first reported by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, is a surprising one because of the timing and lack of rumors about talks between the two teams. Yet this rare one-for-one exchange of All-Stars makes perfect sense. Let’s grade the trade.
The Deal
Dodgers acquire: RHP Craig Kimbrel
White Sox acquire: OF A.J. Pollock
Grading L.A.’s side of the deal
The Dodgers could have gone into the season with Blake Treinen as their closer and they still would’ve been the favorite to win the National League pennant. But after their previous closer Kenley Jansen signed a one-year, $16 million deal with the Braves, the team for which he grew up rooting, Los Angeles did have an opening for a new ninth-inning man.
So in true Dodgers fashion, they traded for Kimbrel, the best closer of the last decade. He will take over for Jansen and Treinen will continue pitching in late-inning, high-leverage situations as he did over the last two years.
There could be some concerns about Kimbrel’s struggles after the Cubs traded him to the White Sox just before the trade deadline last season. It’s true his performance cratered suddenly when he went to the Sox, but really, he had one bad month.
Here are Kimbrel’s 2021 splits between the Cubs and White Sox:
And here are his splits for August and September/October (regular season only):
As for Pollock, he was the odd man out in the L.A. outfield, with Chris Taylor in left, Cody Bellinger in center and Mookie Betts in right. The NL has a DH now, but that’ll be Max Muncy’s position with the arrival of first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Indeed, Pollock’s playing time with the Dodgers would have been limited to platooning against left-handed pitchers (with Gavin Lux playing against righties). That would’ve been a waste of his talents, considering he hit .301/.353/.548 with 14 home runs in 283 plate appearances vs. righties last season.
Simply put, he was expendable in a trade so long as the return was worth it. Kimbrel likely won’t be as dominant as he was with the Cubs last year, but he definitely won’t be as dreadful as he was in August. If the Dodgers get the version of Kimbrel we saw in September and October—and there’s no reason to expect worse than that—trading Pollock would have been well worth it.
Grade: B+
Matt Marton/USA Today Sports
Grading Chicago’s side of the deal
The White Sox desperately needed a right fielder, and their options on the free-agent market were limited to Brett Gardner and Michael Conforto. Pollock is way better than the 38-year-old Gardner, and Conforto, 29, injured his shoulder working out in January. His agent, Scott Boras, said Conforto is healthy again, but his injury definitely could have factored into the decision for the White Sox to trade for Pollock instead of signing Conforto.
Pollock, 34, played in 117 games last year and finished with a .297/.355/.536 slash line, 21 home runs, 69 RBIs, nine stolen bases, a 137 OPS+ and 3.1 WAR. It was his best season since 2015, when he was still with the Diamondbacks.
The problem with Pollock is not his talent but his inability to stay off the injured list. Only once in his 10-year career has he logged at least 500 plate appearances in a season. Naturally, that was in 2015, which was also his only All-Star appearance. He’s no longer the Gold Glove center fielder he was that year, but he can still hit for both average and power and run the bases well. He just has to stay healthy.
Meanwhile, the White Sox have one of the best bullpens in baseball, with or without Kimbrel, which is why they were fielding trade offers for him.
Closer Liam Hendriks has won the AL reliever of the year award in consecutive seasons. Lefthander Aaron Bummer, who has one of the nastiest sliders in MLB, and Kendall Graveman, who signed with Chicago this offseason, will handle late-inning, high-leverage situations. The White Sox also signed former Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, who will open the year on the IL.
Plug in what I wrote above for the Dodgers and Pollock with the White Sox and Kimbrel and it pretty much sums up how I feel about Chicago’s side of the deal. Trading Kimbrel for Pollock is a great move, so long as Pollock remains relatively healthy.
Grade: A-
Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
Final thoughts
This trade is a win for both teams. They both traded from a position of surplus to improve their rosters.
That said, the White Sox needed a starting right fielder much more than the Dodgers needed a closer. Pollock is a greater improvement for Chicago than Kimbrel is for L.A. And if Pollock can avoid the IL, that upgrade will be even more significant for the South Siders.
Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.
1. THE OPENER
“For someone who has struck out in 14 of his 19 spring training at bats, six months after he hit .165, Cody Bellinger is remarkably cheerful.”
That’s Stephanie Apstein, writing about the former MVP in her column from Monday. It’s worth sharing it again here because of how important it is for Bellinger to return to form this season.
Entering Friday, Bellinger has whiffed in 17 of his 27 preseason at bats. There are a number of great quotes from Bellinger in this story. I’d especially like to highlight his exchange with Steph at the beginning of it. You can read the column below:
Cody Bellinger Is MLB’s Happiest Spring Training Strikeout King by Stephanie Apstein
The Dodgers’ star and former MVP is living the good life. He’s not going to let a case of the preseason whiffs get him down.
2. ICYMI
Mets ace Jacob deGrom will miss Opening Day after his MRI Friday showed a stress reaction in his right scapula. He will be shut down for a month before he starts throwing again.
deGrom was scratched from his spring training start Friday due to shoulder tightness. He missed the second half of last season with right forearm tightness. The two-time Cy Young winner was by far the best pitcher in baseball before his injury last year. In 15 starts he was 7–2 with a 1.08 ERA.
Jacob deGrom Expected to Miss Significant Time With Shoulder Injury by Daniel Chavkin
The Nick Selbe–Will Laws duo is back in full force this season. In two stories this week, they outlined one important question for each of the 30 teams. Nick handled the AL clubs while Will tackled the NL. You can find both pieces below.
One Big Question for Every American League Team by Nick Selbe
One Big Question for Every National League Team by Will Laws
They’ll also be writing our Preseason Power Rankings for Monday, so be on the lookout for that over at SI.com.
Nick also previewed the Red Sox this week. The AL East is loaded. Have they done enough to make the playoffs again in 2022?
Red Sox’ Hopes Depend on New Story, Same Meh Rotation by Nick Selbe
Every team should be afraid of Boston’s lineup. Boston should be scared of its own starting pitching.
Earlier this week, the Cardinals signed franchise icon Albert Pujols to a one-year, $2.5 million deal for his 22nd and final season in the majors. Pujols spent his first 11 seasons with St. Louis. We’ll have more on Albert and the Cardinals next week.
Albert Pujols Announces That He Will Retire After the 2022 Season by Joseph Salvador
3. WORTH NOTING from Stephanie Apstein
If the Marlins start righthander Sandy Alcantara against San Francisco on April 8, as they are expected to, one of the more remarkable streaks in baseball will continue: The Giants will have their 15th different Opening Day left fielder in 15 years. That stretch, which began with Barry Bonds’s last season, in 2007, has seen Dave Roberts, Fred Lewis, Mark DeRosa, Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, Andres Torres, Michael Morse, Nori Aoki, Ángel Pagán, Jarrett Parker, Hunter Pence, Connor Joe, Alex Dickerson and Austin Slater take the field. Slater remains with the team but as a right-handed hitter is unlikely to play against Alcantara. LaMonte Wade Jr. was the frontrunner for the nod, but he suffered a bone bruise in his left knee on Monday. Steven Duggar is likely to take his place.
4. TRIVIA! from Matt Martell
First off, I need to correct what I said was the answer in last week’s newsletter, for the question from two weeks ago. It was left-handed pitcher Mike Hampton who signed the largest free-agent contract in Rockies history prior to Kris Bryant’s deal this winter. Hampton signed for eight years and $121 million in December 2000. Sorry about that!
Now, onto the one I asked last week…
Last Week’s Question: From 2012 to 2017, Andrew Miller ranked second among all relief pitchers with a 213 ERA+ (minimum 300 innings). Who was first?
Answer: Fittingly, the answer is Craig Kimbrel (222 ERA+).
This Week’s Question: During his first stint with the Cardinals, from 2001 to ’11, Albert Pujols led the majors with 445 home runs. Who hit the second-most homers?
5. THE CLOSER from Nick Selbe
Opening Day is less than a week away, and though rosters have not been finalized yet, Albert Pujols is poised to begin his 22nd big league season. He’s spent over half of his life on a major league roster since debuting on April 2, 2001. Less than two weeks later, during his first home stand at Busch Stadium, Pujols—then a third baseman—went 7-for-10 in a three-game series against the Astros. Standing across the diamond was Houston third baseman Charlie Hayes, who reached base twice in two pinch-hit opportunities for the series—including a single past Pujols to left field. Pujols and the Cardinals are set to open the ’22 season at home against the Pirates, who are headlined by star third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes—Charlie’s son. If the universe values symmetry, Pujols might just get a chance to hit a ball past the younger Hayes for his 3,302nd career hit.
