The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers have officially completed the trade reported last week involving outfielder Matt Kemp, catcher Yasmani Grandal and several prospects, both teams announced on Thursday night.
Padres, Dodgers officially complete Matt Kemp trade
After a lengthy hold-up over concerns with his physical, Kemp is finally headed south on I-5.
The Arizona Republic-USA TODAY Sports
The teams agreed to a trade on Dec. 11 that sent Kemp from the Dodgers to the Padres in exchange for Grandal and pitching prospects Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin. Concerns over Kemp's physical, which revealed arthritis in both hips, temporarily kept the deal from going through. That also held up the official announcement of the Dodgers' trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for Jimmy Rollins because of Eflin's inclusion in the deal, which is expected to be officially announced soon.
Kemp, 30, hit .287/.346/.506 with 25 home runs for the Dodgers last season, the first one in three years in which he appeared in more than 110 games. The two-time All-Star finished second in the National League MVP voting in 2011 and signed an eight-year, $160 million contract shortly thereafter, but he had trouble staying on the field in the following two seasons. Kemp has averaged 138 games per season since becoming a full-time player in 2008 and owns a .290/.350/.495 line, good for a 130 OPS+, during that time.
Grandal made a career-high 443 plate appearances last season, hitting .225/.327/.401 with 15 home runs. The 26-year-old backstop still has four years of team control remaining. His OPS+ of 120 since breaking into the league in 2011 ranks third -- behind Buster Posey and Yadier Molina -- among all catchers with at least 100 plate appearances during that time.
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