TODAY: Aside from Puig, the Dodgers and Reds have also discussed Alex Wood in trade talks, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets, though Feinsand’s source says “nothing serious at this point” has developed.
TUESDAY, 10:53pm: The Mets aren’t in on Puig, Andy Martino of SNY tweets.
10:27pm: The Dodgers are “actively” attempting to trade either or both of Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Los Angeles would presumably have a much easier time moving the mercurial Puig, who’s the younger, less expensive and better of the two outfielders.
The 28-year-old Puig is projected to make an affordable $11.3MM in 2019, his last season of team control, and is reportedly “open” to playing for another club after developing a distrust of Dodgers management in 2018. The right-handed Puig has fallen flat against left-handed pitchers in back-to-back years, but nevertheless, he didn’t like that the Dodgers limited his playing time versus southpaws in 2018. Despite that, Puig still turned in another quality offensive season, hitting .267/.327/.494 (123 wRC+) with 23 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 444 plate appearances. Since then, the Indians, Mets and Reds have been connected to Puig.
Kemp, 34, was similarly effective at the plate in 2018, as he bounced back from a rough 2017 in Atlanta to bat .290/.338/.481 (122 wRC+) with 21 long balls in 506 PAs. However, Kemp tailed off in the second half of the season, continued to struggle in the outfield and is due an unreasonable $21.5MM next year. The Dodgers figure to have trouble dealing Kemp, then, unless they eat a large portion of his salary or swap him for another team’s undesirable contract.
Jettisoning one or both of the Puig-Kemp duo would still leave the Dodgers with other outfield-capable players in Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, Andrew Toles and high-end prospect Alex Verdugo. Plus, given the Dodgers’ ability to spend, they may add to the group by signing Bryce Harper, the best, most expensive outfielder available in free agency. Incidentally, the Dodgers reportedly offered Puig to the Nationals for Harper at last summer’s trade deadline.
Something happen please. Other than the Phillies paying stupid money for McCutchen and a bunch of minor moves these meeting have been a snoozer
Andrew McCrutches hit the lotto, 50 million for 3 years !!?
Everyone always jumps at the dollar amounts. For most players I’d much rather have them for 3 years on a front loaded deal then say 5 or 6 with a spread out AAV and clogging up my team’s roster in the end. I don’t see that happening with Cutch or even Arrieta. I honestly didn’t even see it with Santana but Rhys playing left hurt the team too much.
Truth, all of it.
I still like Carlos Santana, but not for the Phillies and not for 2019-2020. Watching Hoskins last year was just ……….. painful.
McCutchen’s deal isn’t even that bad. He still hit .255/.368/.424 , 118 OPS+, 20/65/14. It’s also the Phillies who are trying to come out of a rebuild. Teams like that generally have to overpay to sign players. Cutch has basically been a lock for 150+ games, 20+ HR’s, and a high OBP. Plus vet leadership is highly underrated. The Dodgers didn’t keep Utley around for his bat or glove.
I like the Cutch signing also. He gets $50 mill to under-perform and clog up their pipeline. Kudos, I thought the Giants were the kings of aged and expensive but the Phills are making a statement.
Don’t ruin there silly notions with things like facts. I mean Cutch’s AAV is less than the qualifying offer, he’s still a productive player, he’s an outstanding club house presence, but none of that matters.
To be fair Utley didn’t make $16,000,000 a year with the Dodgers either. $50 million is still a lot of money for a .258 hitter with diminishing defensive skills.
This is par for the course now. Teams play a waiting game on free agency because they get more leverage as the offseason goes on. No need to pounce early when the smart shopping can be done later. This is the new normal, I think. Winter meetings are basically a sideshow.
Cards waited on Holland and he ruined multiple sets of sheets defecating the bed so many times.
I’ll take Cutch at a little over 16 mil for 3 years, people are acting like this is a crazy amount of money when it’s really not. And it’s only a 3 year deal not a 5 or something. Also it’s the Phillies, who have money to burn not a team like the pirates. Cutch is still a solid player and people freaking out over the signing doesn’t make sense.
I like the Cutch signing, but the complaining and freaking out is because it is not Machado. But Cutch is not old, he is in a hitter-friendly park now (unlike AT&T) and he can still play. He fits in RF well. I am fine with it. I honestly would rather NOT sign Harper and use that money to plug other holes (i.e. a closer). I don’t *want* Machado, but in the end, we kind of need him though.
They’re not getting Harper or Machado ..
The division is too stacked after Cano to rebounding Mets, Corbin to Nats, and Donaldson to Braves.
Machado is a Yank, Harper is a Dodger.
Phillies can still have a good off-season. Segura & Cutch already.
Say they trade for MadBum etc & sign Grandal.
That’s still a great off-season.
They can still contend. But the idea of signing either Harper or Machado fizzled once the idea of both of them going there to clinch an easy division went out the window with those other teams being so agressive behind stronger cores than Philly started the off-season with
Agree!
Agree on Cutch, not Machado
Puig, Joc, Verdugo, Taylor and Kemp for DeGrom. Toles starts LF, Belli starts CF and go sign Harper. 123-Degrom, Kershaw, Buehler, Hill, Ryu. Turner, Seager, Muncy, Freese are your infield. Barnes catching. Farmer backup. Starting linuep Toles, Belli, Seager, Turner, Harper, Muncy Freese, Barnes, P. Feel free to criticize and downvote.
Barnes is a weak link..he is terrible he should be in the minor leagues bring up Ruiz.
Barnes is fine. 2017 may not be his true talent level, but 2018 certainly wasn’t. He’s very good behind the plate, regardless of what his stick is doing.
In saying that, Catchers don’t have .289/.408/.486 seasons by accident – there’s real talent here. And this is after tearing up the Minors.
I think the timeshare issue with Grandal played a big part in struggling to get a groove. If the Dodgers can get anywhere near a .350 OBP to support his defense, they’re all good.
Nonsense, Barnes will be fine for now.
Barnes sucks wth lol…
100 career OPS+ (above average for a Catcher), and 3.0 bWAR/2.8 fWAR in around a seasons worth of PA’s.
Plus a strong track record in the Minors.
So yeah, he’d suck like you say, if..well..he didn’t.
Guess you haven’t heard that the Mets aren’t willing to trade DeGrom.
And then you wake up
Why in the world would the Mets take 5 OF’s for their top pitcher? I could see Verdugo going as a part of any DeGrom deal and *maybe* Puig/Taylor but the Mets would never take on Kemp’s contract
Lol. So, take out logjam of outfielders and Kemp’s salary and give us DeGrom
ideas on what the Dodgers might ask Zaidi for, Puig would be a perfect piece in the AT&T outfield
Bumgarner. Troll the world trade
And throw in Posey/Kershaw just for the giggles.
Puig being a Giant is like Tom Brady being a Jet.
Puig being a Giant is more like John Kasich being a Democrat. Neither would matter, no one would care, and yes, the mouth would still be obnoxious on each.
True, and Puig is irrelevant, he may as well be on an irrelevant team
Beisbolista. How can a team who won 3 of the 18 WS this millennium be called irrelevant? Just wondering.
“Irrelevant team”? Trade them to the Tigers. Include Toles and Urias and you can have Backup catcher Hicks and any choice of relievers… not much in return, but it opens up $ to sign Harper.
Tigers would be buying Toles and Urias by taking on payroll in Kemp and Puig.
Because that franchise has gone 137-187 the past two seasons and have a ton of money owed to declining players.
Excellent comment, beisbolista
DId they win last year? Are they in positi0n to win any time soon? No and no. They are irrelevant.
The Giants and Dodgers would never ever never ever ever never do a trade together. Never ever never ever.
You forgot the blockbuster that was the Mike Sweeney trade ?
Apparently you did as well because it was the MARK Sweeney trade between the Giants and Dodgers. The other guy played for the Royals and the Athletics.
They say that about Yankees Mets but it happens now and then
99% of Giants fans loathe Puig.
And the other 1% loathe themselves.
Stand corrected sir! 100% of Giants fans hate that dude! Lol
Not so sure Dodgers care what they get in return. Looking for takers.
They’re just trying to dump him and sign Harper.
Pretty sure theyd be very happy if Giants offered to pay Puigs salary.
Kemp is going to be a Dodger next year. That’s an insane amount of money no one wants to pay for.
The Cardinals probably wouldn’t mind if the Dodgers took Fowler’s contract in return.
Lol, that’s the only way it gets done, swapping contracts. Really no relief in that scenario though. Lol
No he won’t. You don’t understand how it works
Explain to me how it works there then? Lol, that dude fell off last year, is old, and will be very tough to move. Salary swap like how they got him last year is the only way. But enlighten me. Lol
Tough to move, but saying he fell off last year is a flat out lie. Rough second half, but put together a .290/.338/.481 season by the end, with the best D he’s played in a number of years.
He’s a contributor, just overpaid.
Lol, that dude sucks man, after the all star break, he tanked! What he did in the last 5 games may have made everything look ok but the worst is to come for that dude. You’re a lie! Lol
The article even mentions his drop off
Mets Kemp for Frazier straight up.
Can’t see Mets doing that unless Vargas is involved.
Well Frazier would make more sense. McNeil gets more playing time at third and the Mets need a right handed bat in the outfield. It would cost the Mets the same amount of money as keeping Frazier and the Dodgers have a backup 3rd/1st basemen that frees up cash.
Don’t the Dodgers already have Kike Hernandez, David Freese, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger as 3rd/1st baseman on their roster?
Uh, Justin Turner?
You need to match salaries
yes and yes
Puig to Milwaukee in exchange for a re-do og game 7.
Maybe just for a redo of your post,
Or your post, ending a sentence with a comma.
If it’s a redo of Game 7 of the 2017 World Series then sure. (The 2018 NLCS then no thanks).
I’d rather see the Rays get Puig but could see Kemp as a more reasonable target costing money only, and probably not all of it. Puig fits the hole they have (In my head anyway) in Rf. He’s also poised for a big year and I believe part of it will be a dramatic improvement against lh’ed pitching. Roe and Duffy for Puig and Urias? Roe for Kemp, Urias and 7 million. Seems like a steal but no one wants Kemp that needs him. Rays would be better served trading a couple pieces for Peraltra; Wendle+ for Ray and Peraltra? Just thinking out loud but would like feedback.
Kemp would make a great dh option for tampa, but the dodgers wont get much for him other than salary relief.
Tampas set with Meadows Pham Keimaier in the OF so puig doesnt make sense.
“Puig fits the hole they have (In my head anyway)”
So you have a hole in your head?
Rays wont be trading wendle, hes like our new ben zobrist.
Or a really old Turk Wendell.
The Cardinals would probably take one of those guys straight up for Fowler, maybe even throw in some significant cash if it’s in exchange for Puig.
The whole point of the Dodgers trading one of both of these guys is salary relief and to clear room in the OF… acquiring (the non-expiring) contract of Fowler would make 0 sense for them
I know. I merely said the Cardinals would take one of them for Fowler, not that the Dodgers would actually accept the offer.
……..and I’m sure the Orioles would gladly take one of them (heck, they’d probably take both of them) for Chris Davis.
The orioles would take any collection of players retired, injured, semi-pro if they could shed anything off that contract.
The Orioles would trade for A-Gon and Bobby Bonilla at this point….if they could get rid of Davis…..LOL
I’d like Mets to get Puig but I understand if there’s still some animosity from his behavior towards them last year.
It’s a sinch to change your IP. Just turn off your modem. I agree on the trolls tho.
The Heater from Van Meter? Is that a tribute to Bob Feller?
Yes it is.
Yes it is. World War II hero and a HF ball player. Not to shabby.
I drive past the sign for the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter on a regular basis. One of these days, I need to stop in and check it out.
He was the first MLB player to enlist in the military after Pearl Harbor attack.
A true American hero, god bless his family
A class guy too.
Bounced back from a rough 2017 with Atlanta? I live in LA, not a Kemp/Dodgers fan, but a long time Atlanta fan, I was not all about Kemp, but he actually bounced back WITH Atlanta….
Totally agree. If it weren’t for Acuña being blocked and Kemp’s horrendous defense/contract I would’ve loved for him to stick around.
Kemp has a history of being good for the first half season in a new town. Then he tails off. Now that he’s down to just one year on his contract, he’s probably movable for another bad contract or if the Dodgers pay some of his salary.
Keep Puig … Trade any combination of Tolles, Hernandez, Kemp or Pedersen – none of these match Puig’s energy, speed, arm or bat – only concern is what’s going to happen now that Puig’s mentor has moved on.
but none of them have the trade value like Puig.
so does a bottle of pills and vodka. try it sometime
Just read a report saying the Dodgers want Jose Martinez. We will trade Jose and Fowler and some cash for Puig.
Wendle and Pruit/Filler for Puig, Urias, cash and ibm. Rays keep cash and trade Puig and Castillo for Thor, or Puig and Castillo for Kluber. Something along those lines. Indians get help with bp and outfield Rays pick up a 2nd starter and a left handed pitcher in Urias. Then they could trade some infield depth for Bradley off Arizona and my personal favorite pull Buxton out of a hat somehow.
As a rays fan i would never trade wendle for puig. To important to the team. I think you are overvaluing puig a bit
Just when Puig was starting to grow on me. I’ve never been a fan and have wanted him gone for years now but I do appreciate the big hits he had during the postseason but he’s still a moron and does too many dumb things. I’ve always said Puig was Manny Ramirez but without the production. You only get a pass when you put up big numbers, something Puig has never done. He’s been extremely overrated and not only by the Dodgers fanbase but by baseball fans in general. And poor Kemp. He finally got to come back home and got into great shape to become an all star again. Only to be traded again. The front office just needs to let some of these big contracts expire. Instead of making trade after trade to add more salary down the line. It would be nice to have an offseason where we have enough free money to go out and get the top 3 free agents available.
How about this one blockbuster deal freeing up the outfield for Bryce Harper signing
Dodgers get both Kluber and Bauer
The Indians get Verdugo and Bellinger and take on Kemp and the approx. 14.5 mil left on his deal that the Padres and Dodgers are responsible for from previous deals. he shares DH and RF in Cleveland for 1 season
the deal could be expanded where the Indians include a couple of pitching prospects and the Dodgers include Ruiz or Lutz.
Then the Indians could move Alonso 8 mil to someone and give Bobby Bradley a real shot to win the 1st base job
Trade Edwin to the Yankees for Clint Frazier and a mid level prospect.
Indians outfield issues solved payroll cut
Dodgers get 2 Front of the Rotation high end talents while also rid themselves of the rest of the Kemp monies putting them in a positon to add Bryce Harper.
No thanks. Harper doesn’t add anything to our team that we don’t already have. Except for the 300 plus million that he’s expected to make.
This is why as a Giants fan I really really want the Dodgers to sign Harper. You hit the nail on the head. Don’t need him, so why burn all of that dough that could be used on 5-6 players. Lol
Best response i’ve read here yet
Yankees gonna give you Frazier + all for the luxury of paying EE 25MM for one year and a buyout? Yeah, not in this lifetime.
To trade both Kluber and Bauer and take Kemp money, the Dodgers would have to add several top prospects with Verdugo and Bellinger including two top pitching prospects. This is a fantasy baseball trade not a real baseball trade. No way does this happen. None
Knock knock braves… we have an opening in RF with a lot of Latin players on our team, youth, and the pieces to get a deal done. Seems like a good fit. Go get Puig.
So you want the biggest locker room disruption in the league on a young and impressionable franchise….if that’s the case go ahead an just hand the keys to the east over to the Mets now
What an extremely silly statement
Accurately I stated. I feel the same about Harper to Philthadelphia.
Braves, please oh please oh please oh please DON’T get Puig. I can’t stand him. He doesn’t fit Atlanta’s clubhouse at all.
I hear these rumors of Puig going to the Reds, I’ve always liked the Reds and I really hope they don’t do something like that to change my opinion of them. Honestly he needs to go to some, bottom of the league team so I don’t have to see him anymore. Maybe Baltimore, Toronto, Detroit. Someone that the NL west doesn’t see much.
Puig for Smoak. Dodgers shave a few million. Jays make Vlad a 1B.
You don’t like hard nose players that give a team 100% and bring character and enthusiasm to a clubhouse huh? Guess you never played the game.
If you think Puig brings that kind of energy to the Dodgers then why are they moving him? He shows up late to practices, gets fined, poor attitude. Guess you don’t know how the game is played. Not a lot of clubhouses like that dudes attitude.
Hard-headed, maybe..
The old “Guess you never played the game.” line. Funny.
Hahahahahahaah!That was a phenomenal baseball joke; your handle enhancing the punchline of course.
Puig would be a pretty good fit for the Cubs and the in need to “be creative.”
Gross man…..
Yeah Puig is a bad human. I don’t think any team wants that cancer.
And you know this, how?
I don’t think he’s a bad human, just a lot of clubhouses don’t like his attitude.
I wrote this in a previous post and it’s worth showing here:
To say he is immature is an understatement, He goes out clubbing when he should be focusing on the next game, he is constantly late for games to the point I recall they benched him, they sent him to the minors (!) to show him how much he means to the team and to get him to clean up his act, and the Dodgers have been attempting to trade him for two years.
Has anyone read his article in SI about how he escaped Cuba? Here’s an exerpt:
“The suit against Puig alleges that the slugger, while still in Cuba, had accused a man of offering to help smuggle him off the island. The man claimed to be innocent. But he went to prison and, according to the lawsuit, was mistreated there to the point of torture. He is seeking damages in U.S. courts to the tune of $12 million. The suit against Chapman claims the pitcher conspired with the Cuban government to shanghai an innocent man. That one, as originally filed, seeks damages of $18 million. The suits contend that Chapman and Puig hoped to establish the appearance of loyalty to the government, freeing them to plan their own defections.”
The article goes into a lot more juicy stuff, you know, like murder and deceit.
espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/10781144/no-one-w…
Dodgers really want harper. Would fit there as a LA superstar.
I don’t think they want him that bad. They have Joc Pederson who is a cheaper version of pretty much the exact same player. Normally hits for around the same average as Harper, same home run output. Same defensively. Their last names are different but check their numbers. Look awfully similar with Pederson having the edge during his career.
What on earth are you talking about? They are not the same player, and Pederson does not have “the edge during his career”. Bollocks.
Career:
Harper .279/.388/.512, 140 wRC+
Pederson .228/.339/.456, 118 wRC+
Stretch Pederson’s production out over the same amount of PA’s as Harper, and he’s still a good 10 WAR short.
I’ve checked the numbers as you suggested, and no, Pederson does not have the edge. That’s a flat out lie.
Career:
Harper .279/.388/.512, 140 wRC+
Pederson .228/.339/.456, 118 wRC+
Stretch Pederson’s production out over the same amount of PA’s as Harper, and he’s still a good 10 WAR short.
I assure you the Dodger’s DON”T want Harper
Trade him to the Giants…I’d love to see how much Dodger fans would “love” that goof then.
Biggest problem with Cutch is his defense. I was excited to have him as a Giant last year but the guy made so many errors it became apparent really fast why the Pirates were willing to trade him for Kyle Crick who has underachieved his entire minor league existence.
If Dodgers will pay most of their salary the Pirates could use either one with Polanco out
The Pirates can have Kemp for prospects
Hahahahaha
Stupid move by the Dodgers. Martinez doesn’t have a glove, so you’d need to move him to first – you’ve already moved Bellinger to the outfield to open a spot for Muncy at first; unless Martinez can play catcher, where do you put him?
NL needs to adopt the DH!
Stop
Captivating coverage….”something might happen, possibly.”
What would dodgers recieve in return? Reds mlb roster is garbage and cant see them trading any top farm hands. Kinda head scratching.
So Iglesias, Gennet, Suarez and Votto are garbage?
They arent trading votto, suarez or iglesias and gennet is a one hit wonder. Puig and wood dont recieve that type of return.
Dodgers would have to either eat some cash on Kemp or find a swap. That’s a lot of money owed.
They’d have to eat the majority of the contract to deal Kemp. Like, most reputable writers/reporters think it’d be around 90%.
Unless they attach prospects, of course, but that seems very anti-Friedman.
Ellsbury for Kemp!
Awesome username, awful trade proposal. lol
Ellsbury for retirement! Lol
Making room for Bryce?
Nah. Just broke
Hahahahaha
Actively trying to trade Kemp…most difficult job in sports right now.
AJ Preller should know. lmao
Don’t know why but I can picture the Dodgers sending out a bunch of hot dog vendors on the floor of the winter meetings yelling “Get your hot fresh Kemp right here! Puig! Puig! Fresh Kemp!”
Alex Wood to the A’s maybe?
Puig to Atlanta fits nicely!
PLEASE no! I wouldn’t want Puig anywhere near Acuna, Albies or Camargo.
Maybe Puig to the Jays in a walk year. If Vlad jr is a top ten player they say he is, be nice to put a big bat around him. Jays have some outfield capital they could part with. Reminds me of Raul Mondesi.
I could actually see Toronto loving him.
Canadian fans appear to be way less uptight about baseball’s unwritten rules (I.e. “no fun allowed!”).
He’s Cuban too. He could just direct fly home.
It would probably Take Smoak to get him. It would allow Tellez to be up with the big squad if they did that, so I’d have no problem with it.
Best fit might be Cleveland for Kluber, but they would include Alex Verdugo along with Kemp and Puig. The Dodgers then need to decide what to do with Taylor and Hernandez. Too many bats and not enough positions. How many guys you need to play 3rd and 1st? You need to let Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger get at bats against lefties. I would trade Hernandez while his value is high right now he is a cheaper version of Marvin Gonzales.
Cleveland would need additional prospects not Kemp or Puig. No way the Indians take both contracts unless you load up more prospects. Not happening.
Joc is a career .181/.266/.317 hitter against lefties – why on earth would they give him more AB’s against them?
Of course the Dodgers are trying to move Puig and Kemp, why wouldn’t they?
Id do kemp and retain 8 million on his contact plus verdugo for kluber. Kemp could be dh’d or depending on what they do with there roster they could have him at first. Trading kemp and verdugo makes sense because verdugo is cheap and for salary swaping purposes it makes sense for kluber salary. Doing this would allow dodgers to move wood and puig together or seperately and acquire bullpen arms and potenially harper if they really see fit.
I like that trade,but I would trade Pederson instead of Verdugo with Kemp..I would to keep Verdugo instead of Pederson.
Trading Verdugo makes no sense (solid upside with both organization controlled contract and options). If your clearing OF congestion, then rid yourself of Tolles, Hernandez, Kemp or Pedersen. If you need to offer an AL team a solid DH option to get Kluber then go ahead and Muncy along with an arm and one of the aforementioned OF’s not named Puig, Verdugo, Taylor or Bellinger.
Braves should offer young OF prospect like Justin Dean or Tyler Neslony to LA for Puig, or a little better prospect (Izzy Wilson) if they send cash to cover his salary. Obviously would rather have Alex Verdugo, Peterson or Bellinger but Puig in his walk year would work. But go get Tulo in any case!
If its Pennies on the Dollar, Phillies should be all over this action if they whiff on Harper and Machado.
Seems like the Dodgers are trying to free up money and an outfield spot for Harper. Unless their aim is for Scooter Gennett.
Puig and Kemp to Reds for Gennett and Bailey, plus lower prospect. LA frees up their OF and adds a bat where they need one.