Matt Kemp Traded to the Braves

So, the teardown of the 2015 Padres continues.

Today, Matt Kemp was sent to the Atlanta Braves for Hector Olivera. The Padres will also send around 10 million dollars to the Braves to help cover Kemp's contract.

There's not really much to discuss here, so this will be a short article. This was a salary dump, plain and simple. While the Padres will still owe Olivera 28.5 million, the Padres will actually save around 25 million dollars in total by getting much of Kemp's contract of the books.

Unlike the Melvin Upton Jr. trade, this is a significantly better deal for the Padres.

First off, the obvious: Matt Kemp was not very good for the Padres. This season, he's essentially been a replacement level player- his bWAR this season is a measly .02, a decline from his slightly better .06 bWAR in 2015. Even though he led the team in home runs with 24, he otherwise struggled to get on base and played subpar defense.

In return, the Padres received Hector Olivera, who, after assaulting a woman in Washington, is suspended until August 2nd under the MLB's Domestic Violence policy. According to Padres beat reporter Dennis Lin, Olivera will (rightly) be immediately designated for assignment when his suspension is over. Olivera will never play a game for the Padres, and his Major League career is in jeopardy.

The real gain from this deal, clearly, is the 25 million dollars the Padres will save. Considering how poorly Kemp had preformed, this is a pretty remarkable sum. It was previously thought that in order to move Kemp, the Padres would have to eat nearly ALL of his 60+ million dollar. The fact that the Padres will recoup nearly half of that makes this deal a big win for AJ Preller and company. It doesn't hurt that the Kemp trade will allow top prospect Hunter Renfroe to take over in right field.

All said though, it's disappointing Kemp is leaving San Diego, even though this was a good baseball move. He was the first major acquisition made by AJ Preller, and when the news he was heading to the Padres broke, this fan base was energized for the first time in years. He hit (only) home runs, dated Rihanna, and had twice as many followers on Instagram than his team did. People like that don't come to San Diego too often.

Bottom line: His mere presence added some richness to this sleepy sports town, and Matt Kemp just looked like a star- even when he didn't play like one.

But sadly, as Padre fans know all too well, stars seldom stay very long. I sincerely hope he returns to form in Atlanta. All the best, Matt.

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