Padres Trade Yasmani Grandal

A source tells Kirk Kenney and Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego that it’s a done deal. The Dodgers are sending Tim Federowicz along with Kemp to San Diego for Grandal and Eflin, as well as Joe Wieland (Joe Ross, as previously reported below, does not appear to be involved). The Dodgers are kicking in around $30 million to help offset the $107 million over five years left on Kemp’s contract.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports is reporting that the Dodgers and Padres are close to a deal to send superstar outfielder Matt Kemp to sunny San Diego in a blockbuster trade. Heyman writes that the two sides are exchanging final details. A source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the deal is “closer but not done”.

On the Padres’ side, they appear to be giving up catcher Yasmani Grandal along with minor league pitchers Joe Ross and Zach Eflin. Per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers are looking for a catcher to pair with A.J. Ellis and Grandal certainly fits that bill. In 443 plate appearances for the Padres last season, Grandal hit .225/.327/.401 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI.

Kemp will earn $21 million in 2015 and $21.5 million in each season between 2016-19. The Dodgers would almost certainly be helping out with the finances. The Padres, of course, will get a big boost to their offense which ranked dead last in the National League, averaging 3.30 runs per game this past season. Kemp showed, by batting .287/.346/.506 for the Dodgers in 2014, that he can still be one of the game’s most fearsome hitters when he’s healthy.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has had a busy 24 hours, having also notched deals for shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Howie Kendrick,signing starter Brandon McCarthy to a four-year deal, and trading second baseman Dee Gordon.


(hardballtalk.com)