BOSTON -- New Red Sox boss Dave Dombrowski on Friday night made his first big move to rebuild the franchise after its third last-place finish in four years, acquiring four-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres for four prospects. Kimbrel, who saved 39 games for the Padres this season, spent the first five years of his career with the Atlanta Braves before they traded him to San Diego on the eve of the 2015 regular season. The Red Sox assumed $25 million remaining on Kimbrel's contract but have him under control for up to three more seasons. "Moving to the American League, I'm excited," Kimbrel said during a conference call. "It's a league that has the big bats. And being a pitcher, you want a challenge of facing the big bats." Editor's Picks Red Sox surrender too much for Kimbrel Craig Kimbrel is one of the game's best closers, but he's not worth the four prospects that Boston dealt to San Diego. The Padres received outfielder Manuel Margot, infielders Javier Guerra and Carlos Asuaje, and left-hander Logan Allen. Only Asuaje and Margot made it as high as Double-A last season. "We didn't give anything up at the major league level to affect our club this year," Dombrowski said. "It's good talent. Some of it's a while away." Kimbrel, 27, went 4-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 61 appearances last season, 43 of them save opportunities, and he struck out 87 in 59 1/3 innings. Since the start of his first full season in 2011, he leads major league relievers with 224 saves and ranks second among them with a 1.70 ERA and 523 strikeouts. He recorded his 200th save in his 318th game, the fastest in major league history. "There are various names out there, but [he's] one of the best in baseball," Dombrowski said. "We look for him to be our guy back there for years to come." Dombrowski does not shy away from making trades, whether to build for the future or improve his current roster. His moves have included a December 2007 trade that sent 22-year-old Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and four others to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera; the December 2009 trade that sent Curtis Granderson (28 at the time) to the New York Yankees and Edwin Jackson (26) to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team deal for Phil Coke, Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth; and the July 2014 trade of Austin Jackson (27) to the Seattle Mariners and Drew Smyly and Willy Adames to the Tampa Bay Rays in the three-team deal that netted David Price. He also was responsible for trading Randy Johnson to the Mariners (1989), Trevor Hoffman to the Padres (1993), Edgar Renteria to the St. Louis Cardinals (1998) and Johan Santana to the Minnesota Twins (1999). Relief Needed Craig Kimbrel will help a Red Sox bullpen that struggled last season, giving them a high-velocity arm that can miss bats. Red Sox Bullpen - Last Season MLB Rank ERA 4.24 26th WHIP 1.40 26th K per 9 IP 7.8 26th Avg FB velo 92.2* 26th *Kimbrel: 97.3 mph (5th-highest among relievers) -- ESPN Stats & Information San Diego finished fourth in the National League West last season despite a roster makeover by general manager A.J. Preller. He said trading Kimbrel for young -- and inexpensive -- players gives him the payroll flexibility that could allow the Padres to get back into the free-agent market. It also will give them depth. "I think when you're trading a player of Craig's caliber, I think we knew we needed quality and quantity. So I want to say all four guys are important to us," Preller said. "To really get to a championship level, you've got to have depth, you've got to have numbers and you've got to be strong up the middle." With the acquisition of Kimbrel, Boston will move Koji Uehara into the eighth-inning role. Junichi Tazawa will handle the seventh.
