Kansas City Royals: Potential Trade Targets

Matt Kemp – Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers:  Matt Kemp/Andre Ethier

I know this sounds crazy, but I think the Dodgers would be happy to unload either of these contracts.  Matt Kemp is currently under a 8 year/$160 million contract that doesn’t expire until after the 2019 season.

Admittedly this is a pipe-dream for me.  I think if Kemp can just stay healthy, he can regain his form at the plate, and would look fantastic in the middle of that Royals lineup.  He’s currently logging some time in LF after being a CF most of his career.  He has played some RF in his career, so he could easily take that spot from Aoki and allow Lorenzo Cain/Jarrod Dyson to stay put in CF.

I have no idea how the Royals would pull this off.  Kemp’s talent potential, even with the albatross of a contract, is enough that the Royals would have to part with some significant prospects. More difficult is figuring out how the budget-minded Royals would afford Kemp’s contract.  It would take an unprecedented gamble and commitment from the Royals front office to pull a move like this off, but those are the things you have to do if you’re serious about going to the playoffs.

On the slightly more affordable, but still very unlikely, side of things stands Andre Ethier.  Ethier is not hitting anywhere close to his career averages, so his inclusion on this list is probably a bit foolish.  I attribute some of that to rough waters in LA.

The Dodgers have a crowded outfield: Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, and Andre Ethier are constantly vying for three outfield spots. Someone has got to go.  Especially when you consider that the Dodgers will likely need to be clearing the way for top-prospect Joc Pederson sometime relatively soon.

Like I said, a deal involving Ethier is very unlikely due to the fact that he’s still owed about $71 million over the next four years.  As would be the case with Kemp, the Royals would have to get awfully creative and likely be the beneficiary of a large monetary kick-in by the Dodgers in order to pull this off.

Any deal with the Dodgers is problematic because you’re dealing with two opposite forces.  In LA, as much as they’d like to get rid of at least one of those astronomical contracts, money is really not an issue. They can easily afford to keep paying those salaries.  On the other hand, you have the Royals, where money is very much an issue.

These incompatible worlds are likely to negate any possibility of a trade unless the Royals are really willing to gamble.  Like I said, getting a guy like Kemp is something I’d endorse if there’s some way to pare that yearly contract down to a much less ridiculous figure.