NEWSLETTER
Earlier today, Tony La Russa said he expects Craig Kimbrel to be on the Chicago White Sox Opening Day roster, possibly ending talks on the long-opined trade of Kimbrel for the time being. We’ll see.
But in the meantime, their bullpen is getting even more stacked, as Bob Nightengale reports that the White Sox have come to terms on a two-year deal with reliever Joe Kelly:
High-powered reliever Joe Kelly has agreed to a 2-year contract with the Chicago #WhiteSox. The deal will be final when he completes a physical.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 13, 2022
When the Kelly deal is finalized, the White Sox will have the two-time defending American League Reliever of the Year in Liam Hendriks, the aforementioned Craig Kimbrel, Kendal Graveman (whom the White Sox signed in November before the lockout), and now Joe Kelly, a high-velo veteran reliever with championship experience. (Note: the Cardinals had been tied quite a bit to Kelly in rumors, but no dice for them.)
While Craig Kimbrel wasn’t the version of himself that we saw with the Cubs during the first half of the 2021 season, it’s apparent that Rick Hahn and company see it best to try and help Kimbrel rediscover that success this season before potentially exploring a trade at the deadline with the glut of talented arms now in the Whtie Sox bullpen.
This move also possibly spells the end of the Ryan Tepera era on the Southside. Tepera was phenomenal for the White Sox down the stretch and in their Postseason series with Houston, and was an MVP VOTE GETTER with the Cubs. He figures to get a good deal this offseason somewhere else, and the relief market is clearly moving now …
