Winners and losers of Craig Kimbrel deal
By John Buhler
The Boston Red Sox made a deal with the San Diego Padres to acquire closer Craig Kimbrel for four of the club’s lower-level prospects.
New general manager of the Boston Red Sox Dave Dombrowski orchestrated another big trade in acquiring superstar closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres for four minor league prospects. San Diego received left-hander Logan Allen, infielder Carlos Asuaje, infielder Javier Guerra, and outfielder Manuel Margot. All are AA or lower prospects moving to San Diego from the Boston Red Sox organization.
It became clear that San Diego general manager A.J. Preller wanted to move Kimbrel to dump some of the Padres’ high payroll players from their 2015 roster. Kimbrel was a San Diego Padre for less than a calendar year, originally traded by the Atlanta Braves on Easter Sunday 2015 for pitching prospect Matt Wisler and outfielder Cameron Maybin, among others.
Both the Red Sox and the Padres had disappointing campaigns in 2015 and perhaps this trade helps both clubs get back to contention in some capacity for entirely different reasons. Will Kimbrel return to form as the best closer in baseball with his new team? Did San Diego pick the right package of prospects to make this a fair deal? Here are the winners and losers from Friday’s deal between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres.
Next: And the winners are...