UPDATE: The Athletics are willing to trade DH Billy Butler, per FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, so perhaps there would be a spot for Kemp on their roster if they can get those talks going in the near future.
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Surprise, surprise. The San Diego Padres have tried to trade outfielder Matt Kemp this offseason, according to Robert Murray of Baseball Essential.
Kemp was the subject of trade rumors much earlier in the offseason when the Padres were trying to figure out their offseason plans. However, it'll be no easy task to trade the veteran, who is owed about $72 million through the 2019 season and is among the worst defensive outfielders in the MLB.
"One league source suggests that the Padres have talked to the Oakland Athletics about trading Kemp to Oakland in exchange for 'a number of prospects,' but the A's have yet to pull the trigger on a deal," Murray writes.
"It's unclear if talks between the two sides are advanced, but it's probably unlikely the Athletics would do a trade without the Padres eating some of Kemp's salary."
Kemp put up pretty good numbers in 2015 despite just a 0.6 WAR. The 31-year-old hit .265/.312/.443 with 80 runs scored, 23 home runs and 100 RBI in 154 games and once again proved he was healthy after battling injuries for most of 2012 and 2013.
Right now the Athletics have a full outfield consisting of Coco Crisp, Billy Burns and Josh Reddick, who they are hoping to sign to a contract extension. The team's DH position is also occupied by Billy Butler, so it's unknown where Kemp would fit in, especially since Reddick is the team's right fielder.
The A's have some room to work with as their payroll sits between $75-$82 million at this point in the offseason, according to Baseball-Reference.com. However, trading prospects for an aging veteran is an anti-Athletics move, as executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane typically looks to maximize value in MLB players by acquiring a haul of prospects (as seen with last year's Josh Donaldson trade).
It'll be interesting to see if this story develops, considering the A's could use another power hitter and the fact that these two clubs did business earlier in the offseason when the Pads sent first baseman Yonder Alonso and reliever Mark Rzepczynski to Oakland in exchange for pitchers Drew Pomeranz and Jose Torres.
The Padres are seemingly desperate to recover the assets that were lost last offseason when general manager A.J. Preller made a number of reckless trades, so a Kemp deal could certainly be in the works.
*In his story, Murray also noted Mickey Koke of ThroughTheFenceBaseball.com said Kemp "hasn't been involved in any of the offseason fan promotions or uniform unveiling" for the Padres.
