Dodgers’ Matt Kemp believes he can still play at MVP level

Matt Kemp is a high-quality outfielder on a playoff team. If not for his success in previous seasons and the hype that has surrounded the Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder, the 30-year-old might find his work this season assessed on its own merits.

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For Kemp, however, there are other factors that come into consideration. Chief among them is the fact that he was a five-tool, MVP-level player just a few years ago. That is the focus of a featured piece on Kemp in the Los Angeles Times from Steve Dilbeck on Monday: what could Kemp do this season, in the context of his career, that would be good enough?

Dilbeck writes the following, including a comment from Kemp that the outfielder still believes he can play at that elite level.

"You want Matt Kemp to be a superstar. To be the best player in the game. To be that five-tool all-star of 2011. Hey, Kemp wants it to.“I think I still have it in me,” Kemp said."

Manager Don Mattingly says that he believes people should compare Kemp against reasonable standards rather than one outlier season:

"“You’re going back three years and to the best year of his career. Before ankle surgery and shoulder surgery,” Mattingly said. “That’s where it’s just not fair to compare.”"

The only problem with Mattingly’s theory is the fact that the Dodgers chose to pay Kemp based on the idea that he could keep being that player. Per Spotrac, Kemp is due $21.75 million each season through the 2018 season. As far as the economics of baseball are concerned, the Dodgers are paying for peak production from Kemp.

He is right around those kinds of marks this season, but this is a simple reality for Kemp: whether it is the memories of his big season or his salary, he will always be held to a higher standard than his colleagues in the outfield. It is probably a good thing, then, that he believes he can return to MVP levels of play.