I’d love to see Dave Dombrowski go full send and trade for Craig Kimbrel this month to completely revamp the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen, but I doubt it’s going to happen.
Kimbrel is expensive and the Phillies have neither the prospects nor the money to drop on him. Well, they have the money, but it’s unlikely they’d spend it.
Besides, there’s a much more affordable, more strategic option closer to home.
The Phillies should target Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen arm, Richard Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is younger than Kimbrel, and has less experience than the former Rookie of the Year. But as David Esser notes, Rodriguez is under team control until 2023, while Kimbrel will be a free agent after this season, unless the Phillies wanted to pick up his option.
Kimbrel signed a three-year deal valued at $43 million with the Chicago Cubs when the 2019 season was already underway. He is owed $16 million this year and has a club option for 2022 of the same salary, or a $1 million buyout.
After 12 years in the majors and in the midst of a stunning season, Kimbrel will be one of the biggest names on the market this month. He finished the first half of the season with a 0.57 ERA over 33 games, finishing 29 of them, and striking out 54 batters over 31 2/3 innings. He has 20 saves, matching the entire Phillies bullpen, combined.
Rodriguez’s numbers now in his fifth year won’t be as stunning, but they are incredibly solid, especially compared to the Phillies’ bullpen arms. His first half concluded with a 2.29 ERA over 34 games, and he closed 30 of them. He struck out 29 batters over 35 1/3 innings and has 12 saves.
At this point, pretty much anyone would be an upgrade for the Phillies bullpen. Their 22 blown saves leads MLB, which is not a metric you want to be winning. Hector Neris, their longtime closer, only has 11 saves and blew six saves in June alone. He now has a 4.72 ERA on the season over 34 1/3 innings, and that ERA is only as low as it is because of his dominance in April and May.
After winning each of their last three series – against the Padres, Cubs, and Red Sox – against some extremely potent teams, the Phillies should be movers and shakers at the deadline. The Pirates, who had the first overall pick in the draft on Sunday, are 34-56 at the bottom of the NL Central again, still in the midst of a lengthy rebuild. Rodriguez will likely be on quite a few teams’ wish lists, and the Phillies should have him on theirs.