Originally speculated to be included in a trade for Boston's Jon Lester, Matt Kemp will reportedly remain a Los Angeles Dodger, according to general manager Ned Colletti. Perhaps the potential trade talks motivated the outfielder, who is batting .397 in his past 18 games.
After Kemp's phenomenal seasons in 2010 and 2011, the Dodgers signed the All-Star outfielder to an eight-year $160 million contract extension prior to the 2012 season. However, since Kemp signed the lucrative deal, he has played in only 276 games (in two and a half seasons) recording 40 home runs and 148 RBIs (compared to 323 games with 67 homers and 215 RBIs in 2010 and 2011). As a result, Kemp has been the subject of trade talks since this year's MLB winter meetings.
Because of Kemp's slow start to the season (.259 average with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 79 games), he became a part-time player and was no longer the team's starting center fielder. He and his agent expressed they were exploring trade options to a team that would be open to playing Kemp every day, but with such a large contract and myriad health issues, teams were likely unwilling to deal for him. So apparently Kemp has decided to make it work with Los Angeles.
"Nobody's heard me say we're trading Matt Kemp," Colletti said in this ESPN article. "Nobody's heard me say we're shopping Matt Kemp. Nobody's heard me say that. That's all in another world." The general manager is fed up with the swirling trade rumors that also include the Dodgers' top three prospects: outfielder Joc Pederson, shortstop Corey Seager, and pitcher Julio Urias. "At this point in time, we're not in the market to trade any of the three, period," he added.
Kemp has fueled Colletti's comments with three home runs in his past two games, including a two-run homer that extended the team's lead by three runs against the Braves in the seventh inning on Tuesday night's 8-4 win followed by a walk-off RBI single in last night's 3-2 victory in the tenth inning over Atlanta.
If Colletti changes his mind about trading anybody, he has just under four hours to do so.
