As the old baseball adage goes, you can never have too much pitching. On Friday, the Dodgers decided to sacrifice a plus-bat in order to add another quality arm. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was the first to report that the Dodgers have traded outfielder AJ Pollock to the Chicago White Sox for reliever Craig Kimbrel.
Rumors had swirled that the Dodgers could be interested in moving Pollock, but the chatter was never tied to a specific potential trade partner. Pollock had his best season with LA last year and arguably the best of his career. The right-handed hitter posted career highs in OPS (.892) and wRC+ (137) in 117 games.
Evidently, the Dodgers preferred to sell high on Pollock and add another reliever who could also be part of LA's closer committee. Manager Dave Roberts has previously stated that he's not going to have a designated closer like the team has had for the previous ten seasons with Kenley Jansen.
Kimbrel was an All-Star last year for the Cubs (0.49 ERA in 36.2 IP) before being traded to the White Sox in the northern Chicago baseball team's trade deadline firesale. His ERA ballooned on the White Sox to 5.09. All told, he posted a 2.26 ERA on the year.
Kimbrel is an eight-time All-Star and in his five seasons with the Braves (2010-2014), he finished in the top ten for NL Cy Young voting. He also won the 2011 NL rookie of the year award.
He's no longer the lights out reliever that he used to be, but he'll be a vital part of the Dodgers bullpen in 2022.
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