Los Angeles Dodgers should absolutely sign Matt Kemp

Matt Kemp was recently released by the Cincinnati Reds and should see a reunion with the team that just traded him, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers needed to make room under the luxury tax threshold in the offseason and traded Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Homer Bailey and prospects Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray.

Bailey was immediately released and this move did not save the Los Angeles Dodgers a massive amount of money but was enough to stay comfortably under the tax this season. Plus, it got rid of Yasiel Puig, who seemed to overstay his welcome in LA.

Now, just under five months after that deal transpired, the Reds have already parted ways with one of the players they acquired, Matt Kemp.

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This was rather predictable as Kemp was not the center of the return for the Reds, Puig was. If Kemp was not going to produce there was no way the team was going to keep him around and block various prospects.

In 60 at-bats this season, Kemp is hitting just .200 with one home run, a .493 OPS and a -0.9 WAR, per Baseball-Reference. Those numbers are terrible and it is a common response by Dodger fans to scoff at the idea of the team re-signing Kemp.

However, while your initial reaction might be to scoff, there is actually some value in signing Kemp and there are routes to easily take if he is not producing. Having him in that locker room and around those guys could be a huge morale boost for the team.

First of all, this deal should never happen if Kemp does not take on the veteran role with a smile on his face. If there is even a doubt in the Dodgers’ minds that he will be disgruntled, this deal cannot happen. Kemp has to realize and completely buy in that the role he will be in is similar to Chase Utley‘s last year.

It is worth taking a gamble on him as an on-field producer right now, though. With A.J. Pollock out for the foreseeable future, the Los Angeles Dodgers are really lacking any power on the right side of the plate.

It is not like Pollock was doing fantastic either but Justin Turner has seen his power numbers drop and David Freese and Chris Taylor have not been great. Adding Kemp at least gives the Dodgers an option to throw out there and see if it sticks. As we saw last year, there is something about playing in LA that revigorates Kemp.

Yes, his fielding is bad and that is why he should not be an everyday starter. However, using him against southpaw starters and removing him in the later parts of the game is not a bad idea and the Dodgers were just fine doing that last year.

There is potential upside there with no real downside. If Kemp is not producing but the Dodgers want to keep him around in a veteran role the team can simply make him the phantom IL player.

For those of you unfamiliar, a phantom IL player is a term inside baseball in which a player will be on the IL but will still travel with the team and be there every day. These players often have things that are hard to prove, such as a wrist or finger injury.

Teams are not supposed to use the IL like this but it does not stop it from happening. Utley was the phantom IL guy last year that was on the IL for months with a “wrist injury” and was suddenly activated when the rosters expanded in April.

If Kemp can bring a good presence to the locker room while also giving the upside of producing against southpaws, it is hard to find a reason not to sign him.

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The deal is going to be minuscule and cannot really affect the Los Angeles Dodgers negatively in any way, as long as Kemp is on board with this role; which he should be, it gives him another chance to win a ring.

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