Posted by The Chicago #WhiteSox are expected to pick up reliever Craig Kimbrel's $16 million option and then trade him during the winter. He badly struggled as a setup man, allowing 31 baserunners in 23 innings, including a 5.09 ERA. There will be plenty of teams looking for closers.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 13, 2021
The Kimbrel southside era was very short-lived as the Sox are looking to trade him this offseason. Damn! Way to beat a dead horse for Sox fans. I am sure they aren’t super upset considering his performance in a White Sox jersey, but if I’m a Sox fan, I wouldn’t have wanted it.
Craig is arguably one of the greatest relief pitchers in the history of baseball, and when he was in a Cubs jersey this year, he was playing potentially his best baseball yet. It seemed like a really weird system in the southside. They already have Liam Hendriks who is the best closer in the league, and Craig who is also a dominant 9th inning pitcher and one of the best closers of all time. This Sox bullpen is the best on paper pitching group baseball may have.
Madrigal and Heuer to the northside and send Craig down south was the best thing that the Cubs could do for the long run. Craig is getting older, and Codi Heuer and Nick Madrigal are two young guys who the Cubs can try to rally around. I really like what Jed Hoyer and the front office did with this trade, and hopefully, the executives will get some big-time stars in Cubs uniforms this next season.
It is going to be interesting to see what the Sox do come next season pitching-wise. Obviously, Hendriks is going to stay as the closer, but they are going to need some relief help if Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet maybe move to a starter from the bullpen. It will also be interesting to see what they do with Rodón this offseason. I imagine he will stay in Chicago, but you never know.