The Chicago White Sox traded pitcher Craig Kimbrel to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, and that elicited quite the response from around the league.
Perhaps no reaction was as interesting as those from the Los Angeles Angles. Rather than cheering Kimbrel’s move from the AL to the NL, they commiserated over the Dodgers’ absurdly deep bullpen.
The Dodgers and Angels will play a three-game series to end spring training but won’t meet again until a two-game set in mid-June. They’ll square off in another two-game series in mid-July, and that’ll be it unless they end up in the World Series.
So while Kimbrel does add another dynamic and dominant element to the Dodgers’ bullpen, it’s actually in the Angels’ best interest that he exits the American League. Surely they’d rather see him just four times per season as opposed to seven, which is how many times the Angels and White Sox will meet in 2022.
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