Kenley Jansen, Atlanta Braves. (mandatory credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
The Atlanta Braves may have already won the Craig Kimbrill deal simply by hiring Kenley Janssen of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With Kenley Janssen signing the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers responded by trading ex-Braves Craig Kimbrill for an early spring trade with the Chicago White Sox.
Janssen spent his entire senior football career at Dodger Blue before he rolled his heels. Although his brother played for the Braves organization, and Atlanta has always had a strong connection to his native Curaçao, Jansen has been synonymous with the Dodgers Bullpen for years. While Kimbrel grew up in Braves Country and played for the team, here’s why Atlanta won this deal.
According to the Baseball Reference, Kimbrel and Jansen are essentially the same player. In short, the Dodgers replaced valuable player AJ Pollock to replace Jansen for the Los Angeles Bullpen.
The Atlanta Braves won the Craig Kimbrill deal for the Los Angeles Dodgers
With Kimbrel on a contract year, there are no guarantees that he will play for the Dodger Blue after this season. While he’s headed to Cooperstown and is the best player on Jansen, Baseball Reference isn’t lying about important issues like these. Factor in the Dodgers having to part with a player in Bullock to get Kimbrel, and one can see how desperate they are about replacing Jansen.
With these two rival NL franchises starting to hate each other, we simply can’t wait for their two series in this regular season and hopefully their third consecutive NLCS meeting. While the Dodgers have long been the Braves’ post-season nemesis, Atlanta finally overtook them last October. These are two clubs with every reason to go out and win the 2022 World Championship.
There is a lot of baseball to be played this season. Throughout, it remains to be seen who will prove himself as the most worthy opponent of these two giant behemoths in the circuit. Although they upload candidate rosters, what sets these two teams apart from many is the depth and dominance of their bull rosters. Both are able to shorten the games one by one.
Who knew signing Jansen would make such an impact in the NL Bullpen arms race?
