The Case for Trading Craig Kimbrel

Jul 4, 2014; The Braves defeated the Diamondbacks 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

ARGUMENTS 1 AND 2 (‘You don’t deserve him’)

As hinted in the intro, the Braves do have alternatives to the closer position.  3 of them, in fact:  Jason Grilli, Shae Simmons, and Jim Johnson.  If Johnson is able to return to form, these three – plus Kimbrel – have the makings of a group that is perhaps the best bullpen in all of baseball.

But that fact actually leads to two, quite reasonable-sounding, questions:

• Why did John (Hart or Coppollela) load up on extra closers?  To sell at the trade deadline?  Or to allow him to sell Kimbrel at some point?
• Does a team projected for third or fourth place need the best closer in baseball (Ken Rosenthal’s argument)?

While these are valid questions, they beg a larger question: they assume that the Braves are destined to suck in 2015.

Stay with me on this for a second – for I expect many of you actually agree with that last statement.  But ask yourself this:  how close is Atlanta to being a playoff contender in 2015? Or 2016?

• Best bullpen in the NL East – maybe in the whole NL
• Solid rotation (behind Nationals – roughly even with Mets, Marlins)
• Need more offense – and bounce-back years from multiple players

Now if you assume that the offense will not improve, then sure – dump all of the assets and play for 2016-17.  I personally have a problem with that thinking, but that’s me. But with 2 available wild card slots and maybe one more bat (say, Allen Craig from Boston as an example), I do believe this team does stand a chance of making a run.

Is it likely that the Braves will be competitive?

Still hard to say at this point – there are a lot of assumptions being counted on, which is usually not a good thing.  Again, though:  is the question reelvant?  Whether they are competitve in 2015 or not, keeping this group together – including Kimbrel – makes for the nucleus that can compete in 2016 and beyond.

Certainly for this year, Kimbrel’s presence can turn leads into wins – which is advantage that the Mets and Marlins – even the Nats – do not have.  But if you think the Braves will be back in 2016 or 2017, how much will you miss Kimbrel then?