White Sox: 3 offseason decisions Chicago wishes they could have back
By Drew Koch
2. The White Sox may want to undo the Craig Kimbrel trade
Given the depth the Chicago White Sox have in their bullpen, the trade made sense. The Los Angeles Dodgers needed a closer after losing longtime reliever Kenley Jansen, and Chicago needed a right fielder. The ChiSox received AJ Pollock in return.
Both teams were trading from an area of strength to address an area of weakness. Chicago has Liam Hendricks and signed Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly in the offseason, so having
in the bullpen was a bit of overkill.
But having that three-headed monster late in games would have made the Chicago bullpen one of the best in the league. The White Sox still have a solid relief corps, but given how bullpens are used in today’s game, you can never have enough top-talent relievers.
Pollock is a good pickup, but there were better free agent options (Nick Castellanos, Michael Conforto, etc.) available. As the season progresses, we’ll see if this becomes trade that the White Sox wish they could undo.
Craig Kimbrel was not the reliever that the Chicago White Sox thought he was going to be during his tenure with the team, as he posted a 5.09 ERA with the South Siders. But you have imagine he’d return to form after posting ridiculous numbers with the Chicago Cubs in 2021.