If the offseason hadn't have begun with Matt Kemp being traded back to Los Angeles for a bevy of Dodger contracts...would we still have as many stalemates as we do right now?
I'm serious. It's very weird that, in 2018, one of the biggest causes of job insecurity and frustration in the MLB is a power-hitting Matt Kemp. You'd think it would be somebody else. But not really.
Matt Kemp prevented the Dodgers from making any moves for pitching or lineup protection, which in turn prevented anyone from seriously considering Yu Darvish, which then led people to think 'Oh, then maybe Jake Arrieta and Lance Lynn' are off the table. The last month or so has just been a series of stalemates. Teams looking around, waiting for another team to do something, waiting for someone else to sign another player. It's mostly been the Brewers doing the waiting, as well- they've wanted to jump on Arrieta or Lynn for a while, but now it seems like they're either waiting for a move to pass, or they've just reached rotation capacity.
And meanwhile, Kemp was barely even worth imbibing the contract over to begin with. Sure, he hits home runs, but that's essentially all he does these days. He's not the five-tool player he was when he made a big MVP run in 2011, and he's not as versatile as he was the last time he wore a Dodgers uniform. I'm not sure how often the Dodgers are going to use him as well, considering they have a much younger outfield, as well as having the return of Andrew Toles to work with as well. This may just end with Kemp being traded yet again, which...is what started this entire thing up.
It's a flawed system, and one that may lead to some truly great players being left unsigned when the season starts. And it may just go immediately back to Matt Kemp and his .276 average.
Coming Tomorrow- The Indians' main hero figure, hoping to bring the team back to October for a third consecutive year.
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