Dodgers: Three big moves to make after acquiring Matt Kemp

Matt Kemp seems to be the pawn in some grand scheme for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Which raises the question: what is the checkmate?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have passed on several big names this offseason. First, they passed on hometown kid Giancarlo Stanton in favor of the luxury tax. They also missed out on Shohei Ohtani, lost Brandon Morrow to the Chicago Cubs and failed to make any sort of significant move during the Winter Meetings.

This is why — after several weeks of the Dodgers remaining in idle — the MLB was shocked to hear that the team acquired veteran outfielder Matt Kemp from the Atlanta Braves. The same Matt Kemp that was traded to the San Diego Padres prior to 2015 because of his contract. In return, the Dodgers freed up the contracts of Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy.

However, this move seems much more complex than just a salary dump. Sure, it did put the Dodgers under the luxury tax for the first time in a while. Yes, Kemp is owed far less this season than the other three guys were combined. However, those three deals were expiring. Kemp’s is not.

Now, releasing Matt Kemp seems to be the most likely move for the Dodgers, similar to what they did with Carl Crawford. That does not seem Andrew Friedman-like. Why would the Dodgers front office go out and get rid of their expiring contracts simply for salary?

Something is up the Dodgers’ sleeve. Whether or not it happens it completely up in the air. With that being said, here are three big moves the Dodgers can make after acquiring Matt Kemp.