Where could Kimbrel be traded, and for what?

[hi8is]

15 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Alvarado

“He shouldn’t be trusted any time soon with a high leverage situation, but if the team can help him figure out some things to help him improve his control and command, they might have Aroldis Chapman 2.0 on their hands.”

The most optimistic view of him as expressed from a Phillies fan site, akin to FutureSox.

[hi8is]

2 minutes ago, hi8is said:

control and command

Also… Isn’t this like saying wet water?

[SoCalChiSox]

41 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Call me crazy, but I feel like Kimbrel makes us regret this inevitable deal.

I'd rather give him away for free than the garbage that's rumored to be the return from PHI.

Just take the salary relief or get a third team involved who has assets which are actually a good fit for us. 

Chicago assuming Segura's salary is going to prevent us from adding 2 left handed savages and I'm going to hold it against him from the very start. 

[hi8is]

1 hour ago, SoCalChiSox said:

savages

Savage.

[ShoeLessRob]

3 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

Call me crazy, but I feel like Kimbrel makes us regret this inevitable deal.

Hypothetically if he succeeds in the closer role again with another team, I don’t care. He was brought in as a set up pitcher here and failed. The trade was unfortunate from the beginning. 

[caulfield12]

19 minutes ago, ShoeLessRob said:

Hypothetically if he succeeds in the closer role again with another team, I don’t care. He was brought in as a set up pitcher here and failed. The trade was unfortunate from the beginning. 

He's 10x more likely to be added by a legit contender than someone looking merely to flip him at the deadline, so we will see what he actually has left with no excuses about pitching in the 8th or tie games.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

2 hours ago, ShoeLessRob said:

Hypothetically if he succeeds in the closer role again with another team, I don’t care. He was brought in as a set up pitcher here and failed. The trade was unfortunate from the beginning. 

Kimbrel was brought in as a setup man?  Huh

[GreenSox]

3 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Kimbrel was brought in as a setup man?  Huh

Well he was, wasn't he?  That he is a proven elite closer, when he is pitching well, is what adds a premium to his value:  when the Sox bought him, and hopefully when they sell him.

[Texsox]

18 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Kimbrel was brought in as a setup man?  Huh

Probably not 100% there was a little bit of insurance if anything happened to Liam. 

There were more ways for the deal to look good than bad. It looked like we would be rock solid with any lead after 5. 

[SoCalChiSox]

4 hours ago, hi8is said:

Savage.

Multiple LHH savages needed, not just Conforto. If they thought one token LHH savage would appease the fanbase, they thought wrong.

[caulfield12]

40 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

Multiple LHH savages needed, not just Conforto. If they thought one token LHH savage would appease the fanbase, they thought wrong.

With these kind of demands, we'll be served a Thanksgiving helping of two more guaranteed Leury Garcia years, if not three.

[ShoeLessRob]

2 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Kimbrel was brought in as a setup man?  Huh

Yes 

[fathom]

10 minutes ago, ShoeLessRob said:

Yes 

Wrong

[ShoeLessRob]

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

Wrong

So he was brought in to be the closer or co-closer? His usage tells otherwise. 

[fathom]

1 minute ago, ShoeLessRob said:

So he was brought in to be the closer or co-closer? His usage tells otherwise. 

Exactly why everything fell apart.  He thought he was going to be a closer and so did different people within the organization. 

[Sambuca]

3 minutes ago, fathom said:

Exactly why everything fell apart.  He thought he was going to be a closer and so did different people within the organization. 

So La Russsa went against what was decided within the organization when they traded for him?  From everything I understand, La Russa is essentially the second GM, and he wasn’t involved in the talks about acquiring him and what the game plan would be when they did?

[ron883]

7 minutes ago, fathom said:

Exactly why everything fell apart.  He thought he was going to be a closer and so did different people within the organization. 

Has Hahn confirmed that he was brought in to be a closer? Where is that idea coming from? Because he obviously wasn't used as a closer. 

[Chicago White Sox]

Just now, ron883 said:

Has Hahn confirmed that he was brought in to be a closer? Where is that idea coming from? Because he obviously wasn't used as a closer. 

Yeah, unless Tony basically went completely rogue, I’m not following here.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

22 minutes ago, fathom said:

Exactly why everything fell apart.  He thought he was going to be a closer and so did different people within the organization. 

?

[Balta1701]

17 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Has Hahn confirmed that he was brought in to be a closer? Where is that idea coming from? Because he obviously wasn't used as a closer. 

When he was brought in, either TLR or Hahn said some version of "they'll figure it out" which implied that they would alternate in the roles in some way, neither one of them would be full time in either position. But then Kimbrel's first few outings were so bad that they couldn't put him into the 9th inning in a close game, he would have lost the closer's job if he'd had it. 

It was surprising that they never gave him a chance to close in September. They lost games for worse reasons than that. 

[ron883]

Reporters would love a juicy story showing the rift between Hahn and TLR, and TLR completely disregarding Hahn's plan for Kimbrel. Strange nobody has caught word of this yet. 

[caulfield12]

4 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Reporters would love a juicy story showing the rift between Hahn and TLR, and TLR completely disregarding Hahn's plan for Kimbrel. Strange nobody has caught word of this yet. 

Unless TLR was the one who'd pushed the most for Kimbrel, then reversed himself to do the whole CYA thing in the media at the end of the Astros' series (TLR "Basically, I never really would have wanted him, had I known he would only be used in high leverage and not in the only role he'd ever known previously as a closer, I would have nixed it and said RF should have been prioritized instead.")  

Knowing that Hahn wouldn't dare to come out and call him out publicly...

 

Of course, TLR had something to do with how he was being utilized...notwithstanding his disastrous early showing, they certainly could have turned to him in late August/September to let him get his feet back under him in a familiar role.

Because they had to have known (already) that they would exercise the QO and/or attempt to trade him in the offseason, so why not try to rebuild some of that lost value in SEPT?  They certainly were NOT prioritizing tracking down the Astros until the last 7-10 days of the entire season.

 

CONSPIRACY THEORY/TINFOIL HAT TERRITORY

[Sambuca]

So wait, they told Kimbrel he might close sometimes and they planned on letting him close sometimes, but he pitched himself out a closer role before he got a chance? 

Then he continued to pitch poorly because of this? And he was big mad?

Is that the story? 

Honestly asking.  

Edited November 26, 2021 by Sambuca

[Balta1701]

11 minutes ago, Sambuca said:

So wait, they told Kimbrel he might close sometimes and they planned on letting him close sometimes, but he pitched himself out the closer before he got a chance? 

Then he continued to pitch poorly because of this?  And he was big mad?

Is that the story? 

Honestly asking.  

That’s sure how it seemed to me. Again, I was surprised they didn’t give him a chance in September, but he also didn’t earn it.

[caulfield12]

17 minutes ago, Sambuca said:

So wait, they told Kimbrel he might close sometimes and they planned on letting him close sometimes, but he pitched himself out the closer before he got a chance? 

Then he continued to pitch poorly because of this?  And he was big mad?

Is that the story? 

Honestly asking.  

In theory, he would have had those opportunities where Hendriks couldn't go because of usage...or past match-ups where upcoming hitters were favorable, for example.

 

I can't remember, but how many games did he enter in either the 9th or extra innings with a clean slate and the White Sox leading?

I certainly can't recall anything resembling a closer controversy, even after the Field of Dreams game (might have been another blown Hendriks lead in that same stretch of games...

Edited November 26, 2021 by caulfield12