Dodgers: Trading Matt Kemp at this point is pointless

Matt Kemp is back on the Los Angeles Dodgers yet still has no job security. With Kemp making the Opening Day roster, trading him is now pointless.

Matt Kemp was never supposed to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2015 the team made sure of that by eating a big lump of his contract solely to get it off of the books. After Kemp made comments that suggested LA wasn’t a baseball city, the bridges were officially burned.

However, in December of 2017, the Dodgers reacquired Kemp via trade with the Atlanta Braves. In return, the Dodgers freed up salary cap space by sending Atlanta one-year deals in Brandon McCarthy, Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Kazmir.

This was a salary dump move, meant to get the Dodgers under the MLB luxury tax threshold for the first time in several years. And it worked; the Dodgers entered Opening Day with a $185 million payroll — $12 million under the luxury tax.

Regardless, when the move was first made it was highly unexpected that Kemp would ever suit up again for the Dodgers. Andrew Friedman was open with Kemp about his intentions. A trade featuring Kemp and an upper-tier prospect seemed imminent.

That never happened. Kemp made the Spring Training roster, slugging a team-leading five home runs. The trade still never happened. Kemp made the Opening Day roster, made the starting nine and is one of five players to play the first three games of the season.

Still, the idea of trading Kemp lingers in everyone’s mind. Saturday afternoon rumors surfaced that the Dodgers and Brewers were exploring a Ryan Braun for Kemp swap that would include top prospects.

Don’t even get me started on how bad that trade would be for the Dodgers. Luckily, Brewers GM David Stearns shot down any form of trade discussion.

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Not only would that trade for Ryan Braun be a bad one, trading Kemp, in general, does not seem to make sense at this point in the season. The Dodgers do have outfield depth, sure, but are going to need Kemp and his bat during the dog days of summer.

If anyone gets hurt the next in line is Andrew Toles, which is just fine. However, aside from that, the Dodgers would have to rely on a struggling Joc Pederson and an unproven Alex Verdugo. As big of an Alex Verdugo fan as I am, he did not show me much last September that warrants an everyday call-up.

Plus, with Pederson taking reps at first, the door will possibility open for Toles or Verdugo to have a role in the outfield. Regardless, there are going to be some hiccups; there always is. Keeping Kemp around helps that.

But the entire reason the Dodgers should keep him is that they are already in the season. They are already paying Kemp his $21.5 million salary. Kemp still has an effective bat, driving in the team’s first run of the season.

His fielding seems improved, as well. While he is not a Gold Glove-caliber left fielder, he has shown that he can handle himself in left field with some flashy plays early in the season. That is what happens when you lose the ton of weight you put on after leaving LA.

If Kemp is productive why not keep him around? Trading him at the deadline or early in the season makes no sense. You let this guy get through Spring Training, trusting the organization, only to get it taken away from him.

If he is struggling immensely then I completely understand; the Dodgers may simply cut him like they did Carl Crawford. Even at his worst, though, Kemp was still an above average hitter. The Dodgers need a power-hitting right-handed bat in the middle of the order with Justin Turner out and Yasiel Puig‘s inconsistent power.

If the Dodgers are going to trade him, do it after the season. At that point, Kemp will be on an expiring deal and should be an easy contract for a rebuilding AL team to take along with one upper-tier prospect.

The Dodgers would avoid overpaying to get rid of his contract while letting him produce in 2018. LA does not seem to be making any more moves, so the added cap space this season would be for nothing.

Even if they did want to make a move, the team can easily afford pitchers like Chris Archer and Michael Fulmer on the trade market. They do not need to trade Kemp to make that happen.

Thus, if the Dodgers really want to open up the cap space for 2019, wait until the 2018 season is over before trading Matt Kemp.

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And for Dodger fans, they should just sit back and enjoy the show. Matt Kemp is a Dodger again; what can be sweeter than that?

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