RICK HAHN DID IT AGAIN! White Sox Trade Craig Kimbrel To LAD For AJ Pollock

I looked at that tweet, among others, 10000x to make sure I wasn't getting duped on April Fool's Day. NOPE!!!! The White Sox just traded Craig Kimbrel to the Dodgers for AJ fucking Pollock.

A few house keeping notes here: 

AJ Pollack ain't some super star. Not trying to say he is. That said, he complements this roster perfectly:

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But when you consider that Craig Kimbrel was DOG SHIT for the White Sox after they dealt for him last year, this is the best possible return you can get. It's not like Kimbrel is cheap, either, as he's owed $16MM this season. When you pair those two things to get and add on the fact that Kimbrel was also brutal for the Cubs aside from the first half of 2021, there is absolutely nothing to not love about this move. NOTHING. 

I hope Kimbrel dominates for LAD. That said, see ya later.

Let's get to Pollock though. First off, he puts together high quality ABs against RHP, and has been for the entirety of his career, in spite of being a RH bat himself:

According to anyone who follows this team under a microscope, a RF that can bang against RHP was #1 (or 2 after SP depth) on the offseason to-do list. Pollock checks this box and then some.

The dude can hit. Now, staying on the field for entireties of seasons hasn't gone well for him, but he doesn't REALLY need to be a 140+ game a year guy. He needs to be a 110-125 game a year guy that is healthy come playoff time. And come playoff time, the lineup should now look something like this: 

1. Anderson 6
2. Robert 8
3. Abreu 3
4. Moncada 5
5. Eloy 7/DH
6. Yaz 2
7. Pollock 9
8. Vaughn 7/DH
9. Harrison 4

Garcia, Engel, Sheets, Mendick, Gonzales, and whoever else off the bench. Not too shabby!!!!

I will put that lineup up against anybody in the AL top to bottom. That lineup has THUMP all the way Vaughn who has 30 HR potential himself and is a player I feel is due for a major breakout season. 

Now as it sits right now, we don't have the full details of the trade. BUT - the White Sox aren't paying the Dodgers a cent to take Kimbrel off their hands:  

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When you pair that with Pollock's $10MM salary, the White Sox just cut $6MM from their 2022 payroll. Guess who now has a little more wiggle room in the budget to try and acquire Sean Manaea and his ~$10MM salary from Oakland?

The White Sox do:

Gio to Lynn to Cease to Manaea to Kopech has a REALLY nice ring to it. Then you got the vet Keuchel to mop up innings and what is hopefully a great bullpen. I say hopefully because the White Sox obviously just dealt Kimbrel and LH flame thrower Garrett Crochet left yesterday's game with an arm injury and it doesn't sound promising for him. But still… Hendriks, Bummer, Graveman, Kelly is a pretty formidable start.

Let's ride. I was VERY vocal about the White Sox punting on the offseason on RLR this week, but I am happy to report that I have to walk back everything I said. I just figured with there being a week or so before the season started that the offseason was a wrap and this was the roster they were going to war with. I didn't like it, but I was wrong. The offseason was NOT over. In fact, there's still 6 days until it is. 

EGG ON MY FACE! 

I still have to process this trade a little bit. I don't have a clue what this means for someone like Gavin Sheets, who is blocked at 1B by Abreu, RF by Pollock and LF by Vaughn. I really hope Vaughn is gunning for 500 ABs though. He won't develop properly if he doesn't, IMO, but that's a different convo for a different time. 

I should let Hahn give me a Will Smith bitch slap to the face. LET'S PLAY SOME FUCKING BASEBALL!!!!