The Dodgers acquire Craig Kimbrel, send AJ Bullock to the White Sox

Dodgers He had a hit in the trade on Friday, taking All-Star mitigating factor Craig Kimbrel of the Chicago White Sox for an outside player. AJ Bullock.

Kimbrel, who turns 34 in May, was too One of the best baseball watchers For most of the past decade, with 372 passes and an average of 2.18 achieved over his 12-year career. With Dodgers, he can fill in the void left by him Kenley Janssen passed awaytaking on a closer role the team was planning to discuss by the committee.

“I don’t think I could be happier,” said Kimbrel, who took a short trip through the club-sharing Camelback Ranch spring training complex to join the Dodgers on Friday afternoon.

“I mean, I come to a team like this that really expects to win, and they ask me to come in and just do my job. It feels really great.”

To finish the deal, the Dodgers had to give up one of their most experienced players in Bullock, a 10-year-old veteran Two of the best seasons of his career.

The pitch, however, is a much greater need for the Dodgers, who still have to have one of the best formations in baseball but seem to be thinner in the pile—and in the starting turn, in particular—than is typical of entering the season. Friday’s trade addressed one big need, bolstering their plans in the back of the job market exactly a week before opening day.

“It was an opportunity for us to enhance our promotion and take advantage of an area that we felt had a little more depth,” said the general manager Brandon Gomez He said.

Bullock, 34, is set to earn $10 million and has a $10 million player option for 2023, or a $5 million buyout deal. Kimbrel is worth $16 million after the White Sox opted for the club’s option and will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Dodgers’ AJ Pollock rolls the rules after three home runs during Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS against the Atlanta Braves.

(Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times)

Kimbrel is an eight-time All-Star who started his career with the Atlanta Braves from 2010 to 2014. He was traded to the San Diego Padres in 2015, then was distributed before the 2016 season to the Boston Red Sox, for which he played for three years.

He was dominant at every station. He scored at least 30 assists in eight consecutive seasons. He has posted an ERA above 3.00 only once.

But upon signing with the Chicago Cubs in the middle of the 2019 season, after waiting for a bigger contract at free agency, Kimbrel backed out. In his first season in Chicago, he had a 6.53 ERA. He wasn’t much better during the 2020 season that cut the pandemic short, scoring 5.28 ERAs.

Kimbrel had a solid start to last season, earning an All-Star pick after the start of the year with 23 assists and a 0.49 ERA during his first 39 games. But after Kimbrel was traded to the White Sox and pushed into a setting role against White Sox confidant Liam Hendriks, the right-hander struggled, posting a 5.09 ERA in 24 appearances.

“There were some pitches I wasn’t expecting, and I was studying a few where I had to attack a little bit more,” said Kimbrel, who didn’t blame his inconsistent finish for his change of roles. “It’s really just staying in control and making sure I’m able to throw everything I have.”

With Hendriks occupying a closer role with the White Sox, there has been speculation throughout the spring that the team might try to transfer Kimbrel before the start of the season. At Dodgers, the White Sox has found a willing business partner. Bullock will fulfill a need at Chicago Stadium, while Kimbrel will return to his ninth inning.

“I’ll be able to wear some shoes that I know will fit,” Kimbrel said. “Hopefully it will turn out to be good results.”

Bullock was quietly in the trading arena this spring after Dodgers’ competitive scale tax payroll swelled past $290 million – the highest tax threshold – after Freddy Freeman’s signatureaccording to baseball contracts for the Cot.

Bullock fought 0.297 with 21 home points, 69 RBIs and 892 on a plus basis, and a slowdown last year, but his contract has made him one of the easiest players to trade. and with Chris Taylor And the Gavin Lux Able to play on the left field, as well as Edwin Rios, Jake Lamb and Kevin Pillar pressing off the bat, the Dodgers decided Bullock deserved a parting—leading Kimbrel to secure their entry into the new season after all.

“as much as [everyone] “AJ loves,” Gomez said, “We felt it was a way to balance the roster, add depth to the promotion, and thought it was the right thing for the team as a whole.”

Times staff writer Jorge Castillo contributed to this report.