Looking through the latest ESPN the Rag "Transactions Issue", was interested to see their take on the off-season trade between the Dodgers and Padres on December 18, 2014, and how all of this panned out (as per Dan Szymborski):
we begin with the grand swap upon which the Padres' gambit relied, the acquisition of Matt Kemp (and most of his [e]normous contract) for the team's starting catcher and two prospects. The trade hinged upon three assumptions: that Kemp's .309/365/608 second half in 2014 meant the return of MVP-level Kemp; that his defense would be even adequate; and that Yasmani's Grandal's sterling season was fool's gold. All of these assumptions proved wrong. Kemp's minus-13.1 UZR (ultimate zone rating) is worst among right fielders, he's hitting just .266--and Grandal was an All-Star. Whoops!
Padres got: Kemp (6.7 WAR), Tim Federowicz (5.9), -$32M cash; Dodgers got: Grandal (6.8), Zach Elfin (1.5), Joe Wieland (2.8) [all WAR projections through Sept 1].DODGERS / PADRES TRADE
The assessment of Kemp is probably spot on, even if Grandal has withered in these past two months of the season. Much as I hate to see Kemp in another uniform, it was probably one of Andrew Friedman's best moves this year.
1 comments:
One part that wasn't mentioned in this piece is Joc. He wasn't a part of the deal directly, but having him in the minors allowed Friedman the flexibility to trade Kemp. Joc was an All-Star as well and even though his offense has dipped in the second half, his defense has been strong all year. Definitely an improvement over Kemp.
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