The Phillies killed the Braves. No one really cares about that. The big news is the two most immovable players in all of baseball were traded for each other.
All of you know the Hector Olivera saga. He was once a great Cuban talent who fell prey to the injury bug. Once he became eligible to play in the Major Leagues, there was a great bidding war. In the end, injuries, off the field issues and lack of ability will put in on the biggest busts of all time list. The Padres have reportedly already designated him for assignment.
In return the Braves pick up Matt Kemp and $10-12 million. He is under contract through 2019 and still has quite a bit of pop. However, he has an OBP of .285 and can play the outfield about as well as I can. I imagine if he can hit well over the next month, the Braves may be able to parlay him to an AL team needing a DH. The Braves have a giant gap on the left side of their defense now.
This is a good move for the Braves both on and off the field. Kemp gives Freeman some protection and if he can find his form, he probably can be moved for something. I highly doubt he is on the team next year though.
Olivera may be done as a professional baseball player in America.
Adios, Hector. May your dollars disappear quickly.
What was his van called? Pussy wagon? Pimp mobile? What a douche bag.
Two things of note:
Kemp hit .222/.234/.443 over his first 44 games this year, and has hit .292/.324/.524 over his last 56.
Kemp used to be represented by Dave Stewart before Stewart gave up the agent game and moved in to the executive ranks. So, hey, maybe Dave misses his old bud? Any excuse to do business with him is a good one.
I’m glad y’all like this trade, cause I’m not seeing it. Yes we got rid of a trouble. But if we can’t flip Kemp, then he’s patrolling left for three years and I can’t see that as a plus. The fact that the Padres gave him to us for literally nothing in return might be a bit of a hint.
It’s just a swap of bad contracts for someone who is hopefully a better person. Kemp *may* have some trade value but it seems unlikely.
Well, it is essentially doubling down on our mistake while offering the Padres $25m in relief from theirs.
But if you consider it a matter of releasing Olivera and eating his whole contract, which is what we’d end up doing if not making a deal like this, and then separately signing a 31 to 34 year old Kemp for $8.5m per for 3 years, the Kemp portion is a questionable but defensible gamble.
We don’t presently have a better alternative to run out in LF for the foreseeable future. The closest is Dustin Peterson, 21 in AA, but we have good reason not to rush him.
Kemp can at least tread water at the big league level, and at best, some combination of realness of his recent .850 OPS over the last 56 games coupled with a bounce by exiting the NL West means he hits enough that we can trade him if Peterson keeps pushing the issue. That was just never happening with Olivera.
I mean, Kelly Johnson has put up a .750 OPS last year and a .671 this year and we turned him in John Gant, Rob Whalen and Akeel Morris. Kemp doesn’t have to be an all-star to be escapable.
I love this trade because it gives me a chance to do this:
Player A has a slash line of .262/.285/.489/.774
Player B has a slash line of .230/.316/.323/.639
Name those players.
Just a wild guess, but someone is having a better season than Jason Heyward? Matt Kemp probably?
Markakis for BMac with swap of full salaries? No this is not a rumor, just asking for opinions.
Also, Lucroy blocked the trade to the Indians. Pretty surprising
A is Kemp
But the tight muscle in his back that shortened his last appearance turned out to be less serious than believed and Teheran returns to the rotation against the Phillies when the Braves try to win for the fourth time in five games.