It was the timing of the Craig Kimbrel trade that surprised Braves players more than anything else.
On Sunday, the eve of opening day, they traded their their four-time All-Star closer, the strikeout machine with the lowest ERA in major league history (1.43) by any pitcher with at least 250 innings. It was the latest in a string of deals that have sent away some of the Braves’ best and most popular players.
“The way things have gone, it’s not surprising,” third baseman Chris Johnson said. “I think the timing was shocking, just because we had gotten out of camp, and I’ve never been on a team that had a trade that early, before the season. It stinks because he was such as good teammate and friend. That kid is a really good guy, and the best closer in the game.”
First baseman Freddie Freeman “It’s more of a shock. I don’t think anyone saw that one coming. But it’s just kind of where we’re at right now, we’re getting a lot of good pieces back in these deals, and hopefully we all come together and make a good product out of it.”
It was a six-player deal, with the Braves sending Melvin Upton Jr. to the Padres and getting back two outfielders, Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin (who’ll be traded or released), a pair of prospects including the Padres’ top-rated pitching prospect, and the 41st pick in the June amateur draft.
It was a trade done now by the Braves because they were able to dump Upton’s remaining $46.35 million owed on the Padres.
“It’s tough, man,” Braves pitcher Alex Wood said. “But we’ll make it. It felt more like we traded eight people, and we only traded him and B.J. (Upton). That’s the kind of impact (Kimbrel) has. It felt like it was a massive trade, that we traded half our team.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez met with the team for about 15 minutes Monday in the visitor’s clubhouse at Marlins Park, a few hours before the Braves’ opening-day game against Miami.
“They were fine,” Gonzalez said. “They lost a good teammate and a friend. Some of these guys came up through the minor leagues together (with Kimbrel). But as far as the pulse of the clubhouse that I took today, and I talked to some of the guys individually, they were fine. It’s a big boys’ business, so they understood it. And I think the longer you’re around doing this, the more stuff like that’s going to happen, and you’re just going to have to shake it off and go, ‘OK, it happens.’”
Like other Braves, Wood was stunned by the timing of the move.
“It’s so hard to kind of grasp,” the young left-hander said. “It was a pretty emotional night last night. Everybody knows the type of player he is, but people don’t realize how rare it is for someone of that caliber on the field to be the same caliber off the field. It was tough last night. I got to see him right after it happened, he called me. You could tell it hadn’t really sunk in yet. I was glad I got to see him before he goes. It was hard to find the words to say to him.
“He’s been a really big piece of all this for me in my first two years, especially when I was in the bullpen, too. It’s tough to see him go, but yet another reminder that it’s a business, and that’s the way it works sometimes. But definitely tough, especially when the wives and girlfriends are here. Ashley (Kimbrel) was here, and my girlfiend was here as well; they had become real close, then everybody starts crying and all that. It’s tough, man.”
Freeman, who 14 months ago signed the largest contract in Braves history – eight years, $135 million – has seen the Braves trade away his closest friend in baseball (Jason Heyward), the Braves’ top two home-run hitters last season (Justin Upton, Evan Gattis), and now the game’s premier closer, Kimbrel, who was under contract through 2017 with a club option for 2018.
“It’s definitely tough,” Freeman said. “Obviously you’re going to be friends with them forever, but teammates in baseball – it’s a business, and we’re starting to see that in the last six, seven months.”
Asked how the team was handling the trade, Freeman said, “I think everybody doing OK. Obviously, what he brought to this clubhouse every single day, what he brings on the field obviously, he’s the best closer in the game. That’s going to be tough. But I think we’ve got pitching – Johnson and Jason Grilli can fill in.
“What he’s going to bring to the San Diego Padres, I think that’s going to be special for them.”
