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Boston Red Sox acquire Craig Kimbrel from San Diego Padres
The Boston Red Sox have acquired four-time National League All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres in exchange for several prospects.
The Padres receive outfielder Manuel Margot, shortstop Javier Guerra, infielder Carlos Asuaje and left-hander Logan Allen.
The Red Sox assume $25 million remaining on Kimbrel's contract in their first big acquisition since Dave Dombrowski took over as president of baseball operations on Aug. 18.
Dombrowski does not shy away from making trades, whether to build for the future or impact his current roster. His moves have included a December 2007 trade that sent 22-year-old Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and four others to the Florida Marlins for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera; the December 2009 trade that sent Curtis Granderson (28 at the time) to the Yankees and Edwin Jackson (age 26) to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team deal for Phil Coke, Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth; and the July 2014 trade of Austin Jackson (age 27) to the Seattle Mariners and Drew Smyly and Willy Adames to the Tampa Bay Rays in the three-team trade that netted David Price.
He's also been responsible for trading Randy Johnson to the Mariners (1989), Trevor Hoffman to the Padres (1993), Edgar Renteria to the St. Louis Cardinals (1998) and Johan Santana to the Minnesota Twins (1999).
The Padres traded for Kimbrel just hours before the season started in April as part of a series of trades made by Padres general manager A.J. Preller last offseason. But the Padres quickly faltered, and the team had serious discussions with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees about a deal for Kimbrel at the trade deadline. San Diego's disappointing 74-88 finish led to the firing of manager Bud Black.
Kimbrel, 27, reached 30 saves for the fifth consecutive season, with 39 saves in 43 chances, also going 4-2 with 39 saves and a 2.58 ERA in 61 appearances. Since the start of his first full major league season in 2011, Kimbrel leads all major league relievers in saves (224) and is second in ERA (1.70), strikeouts (523), strikeouts per nine innings (14.37), and save percentage (90.7).
Margot, 21, has a .282 average with 70 doubles, 23 triples, 23 home runs, and 132 stolen bases in 342 career minor league games. He hit .276 with six home runs and 50 RBI between Class A Salem and Double-A Portland in 2015. Guerra, 20, was named the Red Sox minor league defensive player of the year and was ranked as Baseball America's best defensive shortstop while playing in Class A Greenville.
Asuaje spent 2015 with Double-A Portland. Allen, Boston's eighth-round draft pick, split time between Boston's rookie-level affiliate and Class A Lowell.
Friday's move is the second in two days for the Padres. On Thursday, the Padres sent 38-year-old right-hander Joaquin Benoit to the Seattle Mariners for two minor league prospects -- right-handed pitcher Enyel De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward.
The Padres receive outfielder Manuel Margot, shortstop Javier Guerra, infielder Carlos Asuaje and left-hander Logan Allen.
The Red Sox assume $25 million remaining on Kimbrel's contract in their first big acquisition since Dave Dombrowski took over as president of baseball operations on Aug. 18.
Dombrowski does not shy away from making trades, whether to build for the future or impact his current roster. His moves have included a December 2007 trade that sent 22-year-old Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and four others to the Florida Marlins for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera; the December 2009 trade that sent Curtis Granderson (28 at the time) to the Yankees and Edwin Jackson (age 26) to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team deal for Phil Coke, Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth; and the July 2014 trade of Austin Jackson (age 27) to the Seattle Mariners and Drew Smyly and Willy Adames to the Tampa Bay Rays in the three-team trade that netted David Price.
He's also been responsible for trading Randy Johnson to the Mariners (1989), Trevor Hoffman to the Padres (1993), Edgar Renteria to the St. Louis Cardinals (1998) and Johan Santana to the Minnesota Twins (1999).
The Padres traded for Kimbrel just hours before the season started in April as part of a series of trades made by Padres general manager A.J. Preller last offseason. But the Padres quickly faltered, and the team had serious discussions with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees about a deal for Kimbrel at the trade deadline. San Diego's disappointing 74-88 finish led to the firing of manager Bud Black.
Kimbrel, 27, reached 30 saves for the fifth consecutive season, with 39 saves in 43 chances, also going 4-2 with 39 saves and a 2.58 ERA in 61 appearances. Since the start of his first full major league season in 2011, Kimbrel leads all major league relievers in saves (224) and is second in ERA (1.70), strikeouts (523), strikeouts per nine innings (14.37), and save percentage (90.7).
Margot, 21, has a .282 average with 70 doubles, 23 triples, 23 home runs, and 132 stolen bases in 342 career minor league games. He hit .276 with six home runs and 50 RBI between Class A Salem and Double-A Portland in 2015. Guerra, 20, was named the Red Sox minor league defensive player of the year and was ranked as Baseball America's best defensive shortstop while playing in Class A Greenville.
Asuaje spent 2015 with Double-A Portland. Allen, Boston's eighth-round draft pick, split time between Boston's rookie-level affiliate and Class A Lowell.
Friday's move is the second in two days for the Padres. On Thursday, the Padres sent 38-year-old right-hander Joaquin Benoit to the Seattle Mariners for two minor league prospects -- right-handed pitcher Enyel De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward.