Craig Kimbrel Goes To The San Diego Padres

All-Star Craig Kimbrel was sent to the San Diego Padres together with Melvin Upton in an astonishing trade prior to the start of the season. In return, the team got Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin. Atlanta has long wanted to find a taker for the burdensome contract of Upton before it found San Diego.

In addition to the two outfielders, San Diego also sent Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck and its 41st June draft pick to the Braves. Wisler is a minor league pitcher while Paroubeck is an outfielder in the minor league.

The trade will solidify the bullpen of San Diego and allows the team to move veteran Joaquin Benoit into his familiar setup role. Craig Kimbrel averaged 46 saves in the last four seasons along with a 1.51 ERA and 14.6 strikeouts for every nine innings. Prior to his trade, Craig Kimbrel signed a four-year extension worth $42 million with the Braves last year.

AJ Preller, general manager of the Padres, said they took the opportunity of getting a player who is considered among the best in the game. He added that it strengthened their bullpen as the team strives to improve their game. Aside from strengthening its bullpen, the club also cleared some superfluous players after the club signed Wil Myers, Matt Kemp, and Justin Upton during the offseason.

Craig Kimbrel Goes To San Diego - image credit: cbssports.com

With its overhauled lineup, the San Diego Padres appear to be on its way to going up against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Aside from strengthening its offense with the Derek Norris, the Padres have also reinforced its rotation by signing free agent James Shields. The rotation includes Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner, and All-Star Tyron Ross.

The entry of Melvin Upton provides San Diego with a true center fielder even though he will be mainly used as a defensive replacement once he returns sometime in May. Upton is recuperating from a foot ailment. While Melvin still has $46 million left in his contract, Preller said the club is looking into the deal as a whole since Atlanta is also taking in a number of players who also have sizeable contracts with them.

Quentin is currently set to receive $8 million for the final year of his contract while Maybin is due to make $16 million in his contract until 2016. Atlanta is looking forward to 2017 when a new ballpark will be opened in suburban Atlanta. Due to this, the Braves have started to reconfigure its roster while shedding some salary.

John Hart, baseball operations president of the Braves, revealed that trading Craig Kimbrel was not easy, but the club has to remain consistent with its plans in order to achieve its goals.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday April 06 2015, 11:31 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0