Padres GM A.J. Preller keeps foot on the gas with Craig Kimbrel pickup
Padres GM A.J. Preller still isn't messing around. He's acquired all-world closer Craig Kimbrel from the Braves in a six-player trade Sunday night.
By
Mike Axisa
•
2 min read
>>> MORE ANALYSIS: What the trade means for the Atlanta Braves
The 2015 regular season is set to begin Sunday night with the Cardinals at the Cubs, but Padres GM A.J. Preller has already stolen the show. In his latest blockbuster trade, he's acquired all-world closer Craig Kimbrel from the Braves in a six-player trade.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the trade as confirmed by our Jon Heyman:
| TRADE DETAILS | |||
| PADRES get: | BRAVES get: | ||
 |
P Craig Kimbrel OF Melvin Upton Jr. |
 |
OF Cameron Maybin OF Carlos Quentin P Matt Wisler OF Jordan Paroubeck 41st pick in 2015 MLB Draft |
Both teams have since announced the trade. It's a done deal.
There's a lot going on here and I think it's best to look at this as two trades. Trade No. 1 is Maybin and Quentin for Upton, which is just both sides rearranging some furniture. Both teams moved some bad contracts for other bad contracts that better fit their roster.
Trade No. 2 is the fun trade. That's Kimbrel for Wisler, Paroubeck and the 41st overall pick. The Padres already had a strong bullpen -- FanGraphs recently ranked San Diego's pre-Kimbrel bullpen as the third best in MLB -- and now it's arguably the best in the game. Kimbrel is incomparable in the ninth inning.
Kimbrel at closer slides Joaquin Benoit into a setup role, where he's always seemed more comfortable, and turns it into a seven-inning game for manager Bud Black. Black can use his middle relievers -- Shawn Kelley, Dale Thayer and Nick Vincent, specifically -- more liberally and spare his starters those extra 10-15 high-stress pitches each night.
But, more than anything, this is Preller simply staying on top of his game. He's been the GM for about nine months now and he's made four blockbuster trades to get Kimbrel, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers. I feel like I'm missing a blockbuster. I guess Preller felt it had been too long since he rocked the baseball world.
In all seriousness though, Preller's aggressiveness is refreshing. Too many teams are content to sit back and preach patience. Wait for the future, the future will be better. When you have nothing else to offer, offer the future and lower expectations for the present. Lots of teams do it and it's widely accepted. The future is whatever you want it to be.
Preller's said to hell with the future. He's dramatically improved a roster that is still far from perfect -- their infield is shaky all around the horn -- and has created buzz for a Padres franchise that has spent too many years as an afterthought. Kimbrel adds excitement to the ninth and gives fans a reason to pay attention. That's not insignificant.
