MLB 2017: One prediction for each team

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Oct 2, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves left fielder Matt Kemp (27) after a game against the Detroit Tigers at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Tigers 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

Atlanta Braves: Matt Kemp finally gets traded to an AL team

For the Braves, a team in the midst of a deep rebuild, trading for Matt Kemp last summer was a real head scratcher. Sure, having the Dodgers and San Diego Padres combine to pay $6 million of his nearly $22 million yearly salary helps, but Kemp is nowhere near the 40-40 threat he was earlier in his career. He’s now a massive defensive liability with eroding on-base skills.

Kemp’s bat still plays, as evidenced by his 35 home runs and 108 RBIs last season in 156 games. He has also proven to be healthy for three years in a row, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. In the field, Kemp’s value as a defender is completely gone. In only 54 games in the field for the Braves last year, he managed a shockingly awful -12 defensive runs saved. At best, Kemp’s range is gone. At worst, his interest in playing the field is gone. He needs to be a DH.

It’s hard to say what exactly motivated the Braves to trade for Kemp other than dumping Hector Olivera. Adding Kemp instead of just waiving Olivera and getting nothing has to be worth something. The Braves are moving into a brand-new stadium in 2017, and putting another 90-loss team on the field is not going to help bring out massive crowds. In addition to Kemp, the Braves signed R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon to eat up innings next year, which points to a desire to be slightly competitive in the first year at SunTrust Park.

The point of a rebuild — a complete and total gut job — is not to sign two pitchers in their forties and trade for a broken-down outfielder in Kemp who is at worst a clubhouse cancer. None of this is going to excite the Atlanta area enough to pack the new stadium. The Braves are still going to be bad, and having Kemp around the clubhouse with youngsters like Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Ozzie Albies is just a bad idea. The Braves need to showcase Kemp’s bat for three months and then find an American League trade partner where he can play out his career as a DH.

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