Philadelphia Phillies: A tempting Jean Segura trade idea from Chicago

While some teams are scrambling to sign free agents before the likely MLB lockout comes within a few days, the Philadelphia Phillies have been relatively quiet. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The offseason is young. They have time to land some big names and missing pieces.

Aside from dipping into the free agent market, trades are another possibility. The Phillies don’t exactly have the star power on the farm to surrender in order to land the best pieces possible. Fortunately, we don’t have to do much work to find a solution.

Over at FanSided’s Chicago White Sox site, Southside Showdown, Vincent Parise came up with a couple of trade packages for the Phillies to make in order to land closer Craig Kimbrel. A potential answer to their bullpen woes, it’s the one-for-one trade that would send Jean Segura to the White Sox which has me most intrigued.

The Phillies trading Jean Segura to the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel could turn into a huge win

Segura’s time in Philadelphia has been interesting. In three seasons, he has hit .282/.337/.427 with 33 home runs and 143 RBI. His numbers have been right there with his career totals—for the most part. The team’s starting second baseman for the last two seasons after a full year at shortstop in 2019, his numbers have been far better than the eye test.

Segura can be a frustrating player at times. Imperfect like any athlete, he hasn’t been the difference-maker the Phillies needed him to be. His speed has declined. His other offensive numbers have, too, at least when compared to his two years with the Seattle Mariners. He is expendable.

The White Sox are surely feeling the same way about Kimbrel. After saving 23 games for the Chicago Cubs last season with a 0.49 ERA in 36.2 innings with the Northsiders in 2019 and 2020, he took a turn for the worst on the other side of town after he was traded there. Kimbrel wrapped up 2021 with a 5.09 ERA and only a single save in 23 innings. He wasn’t the team’s closer but was still expected to lock down those big late innings.

This poor performance didn’t come from out of nowhere. Kimbrel was bad in 2019 and again in 2020. At only 33, I have a tough time believing he is completely cooked.

We can give Kimbrel a couple of excuses. In 2019, he didn’t sign until mid-year. Just about everyone gets a pass for underperforming in 2020 due to the pandemic. And last year’s struggles after his midseason trade could be caused by a closer pitching in non-save situations on a routine basis.

Kimbrel has only one year of control left with a $16 million payday coming his way in 2022. Trading Segura for him does open up a hole at second base for the Phillies but I’m sure they can find a solution. One easy possibility: move Didi Gregorius over from shortstop. The team could then sign one of the big name shortstops on the market. It wouldn’t be so ridiculous to give Nick Maton a chance to win the second base job either.

The Phillies have far more to do than subtract Segura from the lineup and add Kimbrel to the bullpen. Like with all moves, they become good or bad decisions when we look at everything else the team did around them.

If the Philadelphia front office is feeling lucky, it’s a trade to heavily consider. The closer spot isn’t one they can ignore any longer.