Dodgers Commerce AJ Pollock To White Sox For Craig Kimbrel

The Dodgers and White Sox are compared to a trade that sends outfielders AJ Pollock to Chicago in exchange for helpers Craig Kimbrellreviews Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). The 2 groups have since introduced the trade.

It’s a pretty awesome blockbuster involving two high profile and extremely paid veterans. Pollock is making $10 million this season and owes him a minimum $5 million buyout for the 2023 season with a $10 million entry opportunity. Kimbrel is slated to earn $16 million next season after the ChiSox were given a membership opportunity for 2022, despite a poor performance following the deal that sent him to the South Side from Chicago’s North Side last summer.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that there are no cash exchanges at the deal, suggesting the Dodgers are successful in making an additional $1 million in cash commitments (assuming Pollock declines his involvement opportunity at a $5 million asking price and subsequently pays). the free company Winter). The Dodgers will even see their luxurious ledger tick up a bit due to the trade. Pollock’s contract was a four-year, $55 million deal, but it was counted as 5 years and $60 million in luxurious tax payments since the opportunity to participate at the end of the contract was considered secured cash. Thus, the contract yielded a luxurious $12 million hit. As The Athletic’s Matt Gelb recently reported, the all-new CBA stipulates that the remaining exact {dollars} of a traded contract count towards the luxury tax. As such, Kimbrel now means a luxurious $16 million hit for the Dodgers (compared to the $14.5 million he would have represented under previous guidelines).

Aside from the monetary portion of the Blockbuster swap, the trade fills a need for both groups. The Dodgers’ bullpen lacked a shut-down opportunity late in the game, and Kimbrel restored his credibility as an active ninth-inning opportunity through the first four months of the 2021 season while finishing games for the Cubs. He will now be a part of Blake Treinen, DanielHudson and younger flamethrower Brusdar Graterol behind the Los Angeles bullpen.

For much of the 2021 season, Kimbrel considered his classic manner again. In 36 2/3 innings with the Cubs, the 33-year-old right-hander (34 in May) posted a tiny .49 ERA while making 23 saves and 46.7% his opponents to a 9.4% fee. Kimbrel deservedly made the All-Star Crew, and the three-year, $43 million deal he signed in 2019 went from albatross to commercial asset in a matter of months. The White Sox, attempting to push an already see-through division winner over the hump, traded the injured second baseman Nick Madrigal and right handed Codi Heuer to the Cubs in a crosstown blockbuster.

Kimbrel pitched a shutdown inning in each of his first two appearances with the Sox, and although he was rocked for 3 runs in his third appearance, it seemed like a runaway on the radar when he rebounded with three additional scoreless appearances afterward. Still, the right-hander’s struggles mounted in the coming weeks as it emerged that Kimbrel was uncomfortable bringing a setup capacity behind Sox closer Liam Hendricks gained notoriety. In the end, Kimbrel posted an awkward 5.09 ERA in 23 shared season frames with the Sox before being beaten for another three runs (two earned) in two ALDS innings.

Whether or not Kimbrel’s struggles were linked to the feature he was pitching in, or whether or not that was additional narrative justification, the Dodgers clearly feel confident that he can return to the high level of performance he has showed at the Cubs last year. If that’s really the case, a bullpen that just got misplaced recently Kenley Jansen to the Braves (priced at $16 million for this identical ticket) will feature one of the sport’s greatest champions.

Trading Pollock also opens up participation in outfield time for ChrisTaylor, who was previously considered the crew’s most important second baseman. With Pollock and left-handed punch Matt Beaty now through the trade – Beaty left for the Padres earlier this week – there is room for Taylor to take over as first left fielder and long-time main contender Gavin Lux to get regular reps at second base. In fact, no additional additions are believed to be coming for the Dodgers. It takes minimal price to note that LA simply traded their left fielder and have a right-handed lineup at a time when they were former All-Star outfielders Michael Conforto and his left-hander are still looking for a touchdown spot.

Meanwhile, the White Sox have only had one intrusive gap in the right area to deal with throughout the offseason. The closest the Sox had come to strengthening the right area was a recent trade for the Phillies. Adam Hasley, but the Sox announced that Haseley was selected by Triple-A just minutes before it was launched. Pollock will now step squarely into the outfield combine, giving the Sox a prime choice to pair with the heart fielder Louis Robert and left fielders Eloy Jimenez. The Sox ran with first basemen for much of the 2021 season Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Leaves They disguise themselves as Nook outfielders. So if you add Pollock to the group, you get a real outfielder – and a solid defensive player at that.

Pollock, who turned 34 this offseason, will join the White Sox last season with a .297/.355/.536 batting in 117 games/422 plate appearances with the Dodgers. Normally a better hitter left-handed than right-handed – although his right-handed career grades are still well above average – Pollock has been producing a more consistent cut over the past season and has been immensely efficient on the plate regardless of opponent’s handedness.

However, Pollock also spent more than a month on the injury list with two hamstring injuries, one in each leg. That was the fourth time five seasons ago — the abbreviated 2020 marketing campaign being the only exception — that he’d spent at least a month with an on-shelf failure. Pollock has also missed time with a broken elbow that cost him 150 games in 2016, a groin (2017), a broken thumb (2018), and recent elbow surgery (2019). Pollock played a career-high 157 games in 2015, but he’s only played 88 games per 162-game season since then. Notably, he starred in 55 out of 60 viable video games during the truncated 2020 marketing campaign, which shouldn’t be entirely discounted when weighing questions about his robustness.

Even if Pollock misses time this year, the Sox have their share of replacement opportunities. veteran Adam Angel Chicago offers a defensively talented right-hander who can play any of the three outfield positions. Neither Vaughn nor Sheets did well last year in terms of protection, but they’ve at least gotten their toes wet in the outfield and will do some corner work in the near term. The Haseley mentioned above is a choice that is well known at every level and offers at least a quality protection and a satisfying right-handed racquet. porter Leury Garcia, is now possible anywhere in the infield or outfield. Second baseman Josh Harrison has its share of expertise in the outfield corners as well.

As for the Chicago Bullpen, the crew’s off-season activities have helped build a robust support corps that seems impressive even without Kimbrel. The Sox signed veteran right-handers Kendall Graveman (three years, $24 million) and Yo Kelly (two-year, $17 million) to multi-year offerings this winter. In fact, the Sox are pulling off not only Kimbrel, but also free-agent Righty Ryan Tepera (who joined the Angels on a two-year contract) and Lefty Crochet Garrettintroduced by GM Rick Hahn is likely to undergo Tommy John surgery just minutes after the Kimbrel/Pollock deal is confirmed. Hendriks, Graveman, Kelly and Lefty Aaron Boomer Still give the Sox a strong quartet when it comes to video games, but they’ll need a few internal options to climb up the center innings — assuming no additional outside additions are made.

Ultimately, the swap serves the unusual one-for-one all-baseball trade, in which groups exchange two veterans to meet a need on both sides. It’s a largely cash-neutral exchange that regularly offers the Sox a brand new outfielder, the Dodgers their new closer and the stage for each veteran to play a pivotal role for his or her new groups – each during the season together and fair within the playoff possible.

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