Kemp back in LA, Gonzalez out in 5-player deal with Braves
Matt Kemp is returning to the place where he began his major league career, reacquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday as part of a five-player trade with the Atlanta Braves that creates more financial flexibility for the reigning NL champions.
The Dodgers sent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, oft-injured starting pitchers Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy, infielder Charlie Culberson and cash to Atlanta for the 33-year-old Kemp.
Gonzalez agreed to waive his no-trade clause after receiving assurance from the Braves that he would be designated for assignment since they are already set at first base with Freddie Freeman.
“This allows him the opportunity to go and find some playing time,” new Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said.
After sitting on the sidelines during the recent winter meetings, the Dodgers moved quickly to dump nearly $50 million in salary committed to Gonzalez, Kazmir and McCarthy for 2018. Kemp is owed about $43 million over the next two seasons.
Los Angeles was looking to reduce baseball’s highest payroll of $240 million last season as a way of lowering exposure to higher luxury taxes.
The deal made sense for the Braves, too, since the players they acquired all have expiring contracts.
“It puts us in an even greater financial position going forward and going into next offseason as well,” said Anthopoulos, who was hired from the Dodgers.
Kemp played for the Dodgers from 2006-14, hitting 182 home runs, fourthmost in Los Angeles history. The outfielder hit .276 with 19 homers, 64 RBIs and 23 doubles in 115 games last season with the Braves.
Moving Kemp opens up a potential roster spot for top Braves prospect Ronald Acuna, who turns 20 on Monday. He was the most valuable player of the Arizona Fall League and Baseball America’s minor league player of the year.
“We expect Ronald Acuna to be a very good player for a very long time,” Anthopoulos said. “When he’s ready to go, we’re going to look to make room for him and certainly a deal like this won’t hurt.”
The 35-year-old Gonzalez helped the Dodgers win five straight NL West division titles after being acquired from the Red Sox in August 2012. He was an AllStar in 2015 and led the NL in RBIs in 2014, but went on the disabled list with a herniated disk in his back last season for the first time in his career.
Nats 2B Murphy on crutches after knee surgery
WASHINGTON » Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy ambled around the team’s annual fan festival with the aid of a pair of crutches and declined to offer any sort of estimate about the length of his recovery from right knee surgery.
“I don’t want to put any timetables on it, because if you miss ‘em, you guys get really fishy when stuff like that happens,” Murphy said Saturday, sitting on a chair during his session with reporters about eight weeks after the operation.
New manager Dave Martinez was a little more forthcoming.
“I talked to him this morning. He’s right on schedule,” Martinez said. “He feels like he’s going to be ready for opening day. That’s what we’re pushing for. That’s if there’s no bumps in the road, but hopefully we get him back for that. If we don’t, we have pieces to keep us afloat until he gets back.”
Murphy, is a key piece of the NL East champions’ lineup.
He finished second in batting average and first in doubles in the league each of the past two seasons. In 2017, he hit .322 with a .543 slugging percentage, 43 doubles, 23 homers and 93 RBIs.
But over the last three games of Washington’s NL Division Series loss to the Chicago Cubs, Murphy felt something going on.
“Where I was aware of, like: ‘This may be a little bit more than just nicks. Something’s going to probably need to get looked at the end of the season.’ But it wasn’t anything I felt that was lingering or really I didn’t feel like had any impact on my game. Tough to say whether it did or not,” he said. “It just kind of felt like the normal aches and pains of a season. I didn’t really think it would be this significant once they got the MRI.”
About a week after the Nationals were eliminated — and on the same day they announced the end of Dusty Baker’s tenure as manager — they quietly announced that Murphy had his procedure.
Sabathia agrees to 1-year deal with Yanks
NEW YORK » C.C. Sabathia has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal to remain with the New York Yankees.
MLB.com first reported the deal Saturday.
The 37-year-old Sabathia made $25 million last year when he went 14-5 with a 3.69 earned-run average. He has a 237-146 career record in 17 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and New York.