Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Crawford, Ethier And Kemp On Trading Block

Crawford, Ethier, Kemp
With the Los Angeles Dodgers awaiting word from Hanley Ramirez as to whether or not he’ll accept the qualifying offer, the team has been linked to Russell Martin and Alexei Ramirez.

Alexei would provide a natural replacement should Hanley sign elsewhere and Martin is one of the marquee position players available this winter. While the Dodgers have holes to fill, they also still have a surplus of outfielders.



President of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman said in his introductory press conference he didn’t view that as a problem, though manager Don Mattingly said late in the season a change was needed. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Dodgers are attempting to move big-name and big-money outfielders Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp:

Given the substantial amounts remaining on the contracts of the three outfielders, the Dodgers are reportedly willing to pay a portion of a traded player’s remaining salary:

While Kemp may be the most valuable of the Dodger outfielders on the market, Rosenthal notes all three have drawn interest:

Once displeased with his role on the team, Kemp emerged as a cornerstone for the Dodgers after he was moved to right field and losing him would strip the Dodgers of a power right-handed hitter. That issue could be multiplied tenfold if the Dodgers are also to lose Ramirez in free agency.

Of the three, Ethier is the outfielder who most fell out of favor as he was unable to find much playing time once Yasiel Puig was placed in center field. Ethier is owed $53 million over the next three seasons and his contract includes a $17.5 million vesting option for 2018 that’s accompanied with a $2.5 million buyout.

Kemp has $107 million remaining on his contract over five seasons, and Crawford is signed through 2017 and is just over $62 million.

Staff Writer

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37 Comments

  1. I love this line in the article — though manager Don Mattingly said late in the season a change was needed. The biggest change needed is getting rid of Mattingly. Otherwise we’ll be hearing that old Brooklyn chant again — ‘wait till next year’. Mattingly has to go!!!!

    1. DM is not the problem and those fans that keep saying that he is are nuts…Players win or lose the games…Not the manager……he puts them in and if they produce and do their job, the team wins, if not they lose……It is on the players to do the job

      1. WOW. Are you real? Have you played a day of real sports in your life?! Your clueless man.

        1. Played a lot more than you I would bet…..never blamed losses on the coaches…..and bud, I have watched this team for close to 60 years…..seen them win with so so teams and lose when they had great players….it is easy to place blame when you are not out there playing the game…you are a fan, you are not in the Dodger organization. They have a far better handle on who should be managing the team than you. And who would you replace him with? And tell me, if he is such a bad manager, why has this team won the west twice in a row? And it ain’t that easy to get to the WS anymore….2 layers of playoffs before you can even sniff the title….

          1. Hajaha… what did u play…??? Majong???is that a sport??? Cut the bs fatboy… coaches have a significant role on losing games to… ur just a fat ass sitting on the couch drinking beer watching sports… is that what u call “playing”sports??? For a guy that watches sports for 60years… dont know sheet about it!!!?

      2. Bad calls by the Manager loses a lot of games as well. Well all saw that in the post season this year. Not knowing when to pull a pitcher is a prime example. Well you say you’ve watched the Dodgers for almost 60 years – got you beat, my friend – saw them play at Ebbets and at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. The only reason we got stuck with DM was because of Torre – he would not come to the Dodgers unless DM came and got the managers spot after he left as manager.

    2. your right mattingly sucks as a manager hes so stupid he doesn’t play hit and run or let someone like Gordon take advantage of his speed by drag bunting.ive played minor league ball has anyone else? dodgers have to get a manager from within the organization,someone who nos the system.

  2. The Dodgers are crazy if they let Kemp get away. The guy is just getting his superstar powers back.

  3. I think it’s a mistake to get rid of Kemp. I would get rid of Puig. He has a smaller contract and can bring more in return… Kemp still has a few good years left… I don’t think Puig is a Prime Time player. All Star Game, HR contest, Post Season? He was like a deer in headlights…

    1. Puig has amazing potential. Get rid of ethier or crawford and save kemp and puig

      1. By the time Puig reaches his “potential”, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years?, who will be left to play on the team? Most of the cast we have now will be gone… We need players that can produce now with the team we have…

        1. Pitching wins championships, not bats… He can bring pitching we need to win now… Good pitching beats good hitting, every time… ie, (Giants & Royals)

          1. Good pitching wins? The Giants had one top level starter. Putting the ball in play and timely sacrifice flies and ground balls won it for the Giants. Smart baseball wins.

          2. Yeah, good pitching wins… Always… Good hitters hit mistakes… Good pitchers make very few mistakes… Bumgarner? Good Bullpens? Which the Dodgers did not have… Yeah, good pitching wins…

          3. That one starter impacted 3 of the 4 wins. Highly unusual. Not a model likely to be repeated deliberately by the likes of AF. The D’s have two starters better than MadBum. But, like rust, a failing bullpen never sleeps.

        2. we’ve seen the player he’s capable of being. Any prospects we would recieve would be ready in the same or later time frame as puig so it wouldnt make sense

          1. and in terms of pitching, I’m sure thats the main focus of Zaidi and Freedman this offseason and will be adressed, hopefully with the likes of Andrew Miller or maybe soriano or gregerson

          2. I wouldn’t trade for prospects… You have to trade for young established players (Like the bullpen we need, that 4th or 5th starter) We already have prospects in the minors…

          3. We have a 4th starter……we need good setup and middle relief, a Catcher and a SS…Han ram will not accept the tender…bank on it

          4. We don’t need a CF, we have Joc Pederson, therefore he along with Crawford or either is expendable… Just my thoughts

          5. Trade Pederson. We don’t need him, who knows how good he’ll be, and he’d bring the biggest net return.

          6. A package of Kemp and Pederson would get a substantial return. If AF thinks they need more high-ceiling prospects, that’s what to offer.

          7. Silly to trade Kemp after the second half he put up. Plus, I doubt you’d get value back because of his recent history of injuries. Package Pederson to get Starlin Castro from Cubs and sign Hanley for 3B.

          8. Pederson is far from ready bud….he strikes out way too much..true you cannot judge him on 30 at bats, but he struck out a ton in AAA..

      2. Optimally. But trading Crawford won’t bring back much value unless the D’s pay most of his salary. And Ethier would yield even less. If AF wants to fill holes in the development system, Kemp has to be on the table, much as I would lament it if he left.

    2. Aaron, Puig is 23 years old…….he has been in the big leagues less than 2 years…a little soon to pass judgment on a player with that much talent this soon.

      1. your right norris its to early to judge puig he didn’t spend to much time in the minors,thats where they learn most.puig was an all star trhis year and will be for a long time hell learn to settle down once he does look out hes going to be a very good player then.

    3. id get rid of either cause it looks like stupid mattingly isn’t going to play him very much,his production has been down ever since he broke his wrist.so has his stats.getting rid of kemp is dumb,you could also trade Crawford.my outfield next year would be van slyke in left puig in center and kemp in right.van slyke has proven himself. resign turner.get relief help and sign either sherzer or shields and haren can be the fifth starter.

  4. I hope they don’t trade Kemp or Puig. Ethier needs to play everyday. I see him as odd man out. I wasn’t that impressed with Joc yet, so Crawford, Kemp and Puig for me.

    1. id start van slyke in stead of Crawford hes earned the chance to play everyday. he would be a starter on any other team.joc struck out a lot at triple A. doesnt impress me one bit, he might be good at triple A but that doesnt mean he will produce at the major league level.

  5. Kemp is going no where..if Freidman trades Matt he will be the most hated guy in town…..unless he gets about 6 players back

  6. get rid of puig and keep the rest. puig is nothing but a trouble magnet.. a real cancer on the team

  7. Lettting Kemp and Crawford go is one thing but who is replacing them. This team has enough problems trying to score runs.

  8. Are Dodgers planning to go the money ball route and go on the cheap. Wow, what happened to Yankees of the West. Not impressed at all.

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