With MLB Hot Stove taking place we haven’t seen a lot of moves that have created much excitement. We saw the Atlanta Braves trade fan favorite Jason Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals for young starting pitcher Shelby Miller. We have also seen the Chicago White Sox sign Adam LaRoche, Billy Butler sign with the A’s, and the Toronto Blue Jays sign the hot commodity of Russell Martin. Other big names like Max Scherzer, James Shields, Pablo Sandoval, and Jon Lester have not signed with any team yet but they will sooner than later and will cause a huge commotion in the baseball community.
There is one name out there that has been rumored to be moved, and he goes by the name of Matt Kemp. Since last season Kemp has been rumored to be on the move because he was becoming a regular name on the disabled list and wasn’t producing like they wanted after he signed his huge extension. Yes they have a crowded outfield with Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Yasiel Puig, Scott Van Slyke, and also have prospects like Joc Pederson coming up from the farm system. Those players should not be a reason to trade away a player like Kemp. Crawford is on the final legs of his career, Either is a plug and play type of player now, and Van Slyke is more of a pinch hitter because his defense isn’t up to par with everyone else on this roster. Puig is the only player that could cut into Kemp’s playing time but if the Dodgers trade away Crawford and or Either, which is more than likely to happen, then Kemp will be the everyday starting center fielder, with Pederson moving on up to take over left field.
When healthy Kemp is a MVP caliber player. He is a career .292 hitter that has great power to all parts of field, he also has the ability to steal bases with the best of them, and plays gold glove defense in the outfield. From 2008 to 2011 Kemp only missed 11 games, 11 GAMES PEOPLE! In 2010 he played all 162 games while in 2011 he played 161 games, with 2011 being his career year when he hit .324 had 39 homers, 126 RBIs and stole 40 bases. Ryan Braun won the MVP that season but if you were a baseball fan you knew Kemp got robbed for that award. His numbers started tailing off during the 2013 season and the beginning of the 2014 season but that wasn’t because he was losing skill, instead he was hurt and it affected his play. During 2013 he only played 73 games and in 2014 he only played 102 games, but during the second half of his 2014 season he was hands down the best hitter in all of baseball. Kemp was simply hitting everything thrown at him, with his hot second half he was still able to finish the season with a .287 average while also blasting 25 homers with 89 RBIs, just imagine if he was healthy all season he would have been up for contention for the MVP yet again.
The Dodgers will get the most back if they were to trade away Kemp but it just isn’t worth it for a team that has a crowded outfield where they can trade away the bench players and get a decent amount in return. When healthy Kemp is one of the best all around players in the entire MLB and can produce with MVP numbers and play almost every game in the season. If the Dodgers keep Matt Kemp they will not regret it and the Dodger fans will love to keep screaming his name in Los Angeles.
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