Chicago Cubs: Craig Kimbrel makes sense as a trade candidate

A man once hailed as a savior of a scuffling bullpen could prove to be valuable to the team in other ways before this summer’s trade deadline.

When Craig Kimbrel signed a three-year deal in 2019, it was a highly-praised move that made all the sense in the world at the time. To that point, the team’s most glaring need was clear: a lockdown ninth-inning guy.

The closer at the time was an unreliable Brandon Morrow, and with Chicago potentially just “one move away,” Theo Epstein decided to make a splash and grab a potential Hall of Fame closer to try and put the Cubs over the top.

Fast forward two tumultuous years for not only Craig Kimbrel, but the entire Cubs organization, and it’s clear the move didn’t work as intended. The new front office is heading in the complete opposite direction from where they were in 2019, with the departures of many key pieces of the 2016 team being allowed allowed to walk in free agency, including Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber. That’s not to mention those being floated in trade rumors such as Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras.

Cubs could look to the Astros for a potential trade partner

The Houston Astros make sense in a Kimbrel trade for a couple reasons. First, they’re in need of a true closer after Ryan Pressly didn’t exactly excel in the role last year, and their bullpen moves this offseason have been limited to a couple of smaller signings.

Second, Kimbrel is the type of pitcher that Astros pitching coach, Brent Strom, loves to work with. Strom has a history of getting a ton out of pitchers with elite level stuff even if they’ve struggled in the past (Charlie Morton, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander – to name a few). The hang-up here is money.

James Click, the Astros GM said the team was likely done spending big after re-signing Michael Brantley, and Kimbrel won’t come cheap. The Cubs would likely have to kick in some money to make the deal work. That might prevent a deal from getting done, but it certainly doesn’t make things impossible.

The Cubs aren’t going to get any elite prospects for Kimbrel, but they could get guys with some intriguing tools or pitches to work with. Someone that could make sense for the Cubs to target is righty fireballer, Jojanse Torres. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2018, Torres dominated in his first year in the minor leagues, going 12-0 with a 1.71 ERA across two Single-A levels.

Torres possesses a 70 grade fastball that sits from 96-98 MPH and tops out at 100, one of the best you’ll find, a solid 55 grade slider and an OK 50 grade changeup. A couple issues with Torres are his lack of control and the fact that he’s already 25. However, he presents an intriguing option for the Cubs to get back in a trade with the Houston Astros if they’re able to maximize his intriguing pitches.

The Cubs could also pivot to another AL contender in sore need of arms

The Minnesota Twins are coming off back-to-back AL Central championship seasons, but haven’t yet found any success in the postseason. As things stand now, their current closer would be Taylor Rogers who is coming off a season in which he had an ERA over 4.00.

They’re also losing Trevor May and Sergio Romo, both of whom were key pieces of their bullpen in 2020. The Twins are still in position to contend in the AL this year but they need bullpen help in the worst way possible and Kimbrel is the perfect option to close for them. The issue here is of course, money. The Twins would most likely want to re-sign Nelson Cruz and they may want to save money for their rotation as well, but should consider making Kimbrel their big offseason splash.

A return here unfortunately wouldn’t net the Cubs any of Minnesota’s stacked top 10 prospects, but there is a possibility they could net a few lower tier prospects in the organizational top 30. One intriguing option for Chicago is outfielder Brent Rooker.

A former Southeastern Conference Player of the Year winner at Mississippi State, Rooker is renowned for his power, which MLB Pipeline grades at 60. The righty has lots of potential as a prototypical high OBP and high SLG guy, but has a few red flags. First he’s 26, so there’s not too much more seasoning that can be done before he’s in the majors. Next, he’s not a great defender by any stretch and lastly, he has a nasty strikeout rate, whiffing in 34.7 percent of his plate appearances in 2019. Still, the offensive potential alone is enough to make him apart of a trade for Kimbrel. Especially if Minnesota sends another prospect as well.

The other prospect that could intrigue the Cubs is Chris Vallimont. Vallimont has a good fastball that grades at a 60, as well as a 55 grade slider and a curveball and changeup that are each graded at 50. His fastball sits at 92-96 MPH and his slider gets consistent swings and misses.

The problem with Vallimont is that he lacks a good amount of control. Still, this duo makes a lot of sense as the Cubs would be giving up Kimbrel and getting two high-risk, high-reward prospects.

Cubs could give Craig Kimbrel a homecoming

Perhaps heading back to where it all started, Atlanta, could energize and enthuse Kimbrel. As things currently stand, the Braves don’t have a true closer. It would likely be one of Luke Jackson, AJ Minter or Will Smith. All of those relievers have excelled in non-closer roles in their careers and it would be an incredibly lethal bullpen if they could add the Craig Kimbrel we saw in Chicago to end 2020 as their closer. Nothing is really stopping this trade from happening other than perhaps maybe the Braves feeling content with their bullpen as is.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs fans are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel
• Justin Steele has evolved into a frontline starter for the Cubs
• The future of first base is murky right now for the Cubs
• Legendary Pat Foley will finally call a Cubs game at Wrigley Field
• MLB Pipeline ranks Pete Crow-Armstrong as Cubs top prospect

It would likely be appealing to the Cubs to grab a couple of lower tier prospects and the first one that could make sense is first baseman, Bryce Ball. Coming in at number 18 on the Braves top prospect list according to MLB Pipeline, Ball is another high OBP and high-slugging prospect.

Ball is just 22, a lefty, and despite his best trait being his power, has low strikeout rates and can hit for contact as well and has tremendous hand-eye coordination. The problem with Ball is he’s not a great athlete, is probably more of DH as he struggles defensively, and even if he could play first, he’d be blocked by Anthony Rizzo for the foreseeable future.

A good prospect to pair him with in the deal is southpaw Thomas Burrows, who is the 24th-best Braves prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Burrows, who is Alabama’s all-time career saves leader, is 26 and almost major league-ready.

He possesses a good fastball and slider but those are his only two pitches which is a drawback. Burrows two-pitch combo makes him a quality candidate to be a solid bullpen piece in the future, but he’s certainly a risk as he’s always struggled with control. He’d be a strong second prospect in a trade with the Braves.

Despite not being a name that’s being said in the trade market, Craig Kimbrel makes a lot of sense as a trade piece. The Cubs closer seemed to have fixed something at the end of the year and it makes sense to trade him now while he still has some value and they can get his salary off the books.

The organization seem dead set on a reboot and cutting costs, so Kimbrel seems like someone Hoyer will likely try to shop. While he isn’t going to net a top 100 prospect, it’s likely he can still bring back a couple of guys with intriguing upside.