Matt Kemp rumors: Agent expects Dodgers to trade his client

Kemp would prefer to stay in Los Angeles, but the Dodgers might still attempt to move their center fielder.

Dec 9, 2013, 5:05 PM UTC

USA TODAY Sports

Matt Kemp's agent, former Major League pitcher Dave Stewart, believes the Dodgers will trade his client, saying he'd "be surprised if it doesn't happen," as the Los Angeles Times' Dylan Hernandez reports.

Kemp is under contract with the Dodgers through 2019 on a mega-deal that will pay him $160 million by its end. The $130 million remaining alone is enough to rule out many teams that could be interested in obtaining him. After a staggering 2011 run that saw him come within a single home run of posting the first 40-40 season since 2006, and just the fifth such season in the history of the game, Kemp was awarded one of the biggest contracts in franchise and league history.

He has struggled recently due to injuries, however, and has done so with the Dodgers well over the league-mandated luxury tax threshold. Moving Kemp wouldn’t allow them to get under that level -- if the Dodgers even care to be under it -- but there is no denying that trading Kemp would free up some financial resources, and bring back more in a trade than the other Dodgers outfielders on the market, Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford. Both of those players have their own lucrative, long-term contracts, and neither is as talented, or possesses the upside, of Kemp. Yasiel Puig might be the only one of the four outfielders who fits that bill, but he’s also cheaper and younger than the rest, and more building block than anything.

Several teams have been rumored to have interest in Kemp, with Boston, Texas, and Seattle among the most frequently mentioned. All three have farm systems and payrolls capable of taking on Kemp, should they want it enough to move forward with a deal.