Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made his first big player personnel move since joining the organization in August. He acquired arguably the best closer in the MLB from the San Diego Padres.
Craig Kimbrel was traded to the Red Sox on Friday night in exchange for four prospects. Boston parted ways with youngsters Manuel Margot (OF), Javier Guerra (SS), Carlos Asuaje (INF) and Logan Allen (SP).
The #RedSox today acquired 4-time All-Star RHP Craig Kimbrel from SD in exchange for 4 minor league players (cont).
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) November 14, 2015
#RedSox send OF Manuel Margot, INF's Javier Guerra & Carlos Asuaje, and LHP Logan Allen to Padres in exchange.
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) November 14, 2015
The #Padres have acquired OF Margot, INFs Guerra and Asuaje and LHP Allen from Red Sox in exchange for Kimbrel: https://t.co/wetGx9FsAC
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) November 14, 2015
Trade rumors have surrounded Kimbrel since the middle of 2015 because the Padres don't look to be contenders in the next couple of seasons. The right-hander is owed $11.25 million in 2016, $13.25 million in 2017 and has a $13 million team option (or $1 million buyout) for 2018. San Diego has a tight payroll situation and it was unlikely they were going to give all that money to a closer.
They also traded setup man Joaquin Benoit earlier this week. He was owed $7.5 million for 2016.
As for Boston, they were in dire need of bullpen help, especially at the back end. Kimbrel leads the MLB in saves since 2011 with 224, ranks second in ERA (1.70), strikeouts (523) and third in WHIP (0.91) and opponents' batting average (.160), according to a press release from the Red Sox.
Kimbrel will take over as closer and Koji Uehara, who has served as the team's closer for the past three seasons, will likely become the setup man. Kimbrel, 27, will join his third MLB team in under a year after being traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Padres just before Opening Day.
As for the Padres, general manager A.J. Preller brought back a formidable prospect haul. Margot (No. 3) and Guerra (No. 7) were among Boston's top-10 prospects, according to Baseball America. Margot, 21, reached Double-A Portland in 2015 and finished the season batting .276/.324/.419 with 73 runs scored, 6 home runs, 50 RBI and 39 stolen bases in 110 games (46 games at High Class A Salem). Guerra, 20, batted .279/.329/.449 with 64 runs scored, 15 home runs and 68 RBI in his first full minor league season with Class A Greenville.
Asuaje, 24, finished up his third season in the Red Sox farm system and batted .251/.334/.374 with 60 runs scored, 8 home runs and 61 RBI in 131 games in his first full year at Double-A Portland. Allen, 18, was selected in the eighth round of the 2015 MLB draft and made great strides since making his professional debut. The left-hander logged eight starts between the rookie league and Low Class A Lowell and maintained a 2.08 ERA and 1.39 WHIP while striking out 26 in 24 1/3 innings of work.
Check out HNGN's exclusive feature on Allen here.
The Red Sox badly needed to upgrade their bullpen while the Padres needed to improve their decimated farm system after Preller traded a number of their top prospects last offseason. The trade figures to work out for both sides, but in reality that won't be known for a few years.
