What is going on with Dodgers and Matt Kemp

[Greg]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/27/matt-kemp-benched-by-dodgers-i-just-want-to-play-man/

Benched yesterday for a fourth straight game, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp told Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times: ?I just want to play, man.?

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has been mixing and matching outfielders all season because he has Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, and Andre Ethier to play and only three spots in which to play them, but Kemp is the first guy in that group to sit out four consecutive games.

He?s definitely been benched and Mattingly has cited his poor defense in center field as a big reason, although there?s always the option of shifting Kemp to a corner spot to keep his bat in the lineup considering he has a higher OPS than Crawford or Ethier. And of course the fact that Kemp has a $160 million contract further complicates matters.

It sounds like Crawford and Kemp may form a quasi-platoon in left field, which is a helluva way to spend $300 million. And in the meantime Ethier is Mattingly?s choice to start in center field despite the fact that he?s very stretched defensively there. Sometimes having tons of money and tons of outfielders isn?t such a good thing.

[Redskins Rick]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/28/carl-crawford-is-injured-so-matt-kemp-will-get-off-the-dodgers-bench/

No longer a worry for Kemp, since Crawford is hurt and likely heading to the DL.

[DrungoHazewood]

For a long time I thought that the Yanks' next big paradigm shift would be to sign good MLB players to minor league deals for $millions as insurance/backup plans. Until now it didn't occur to me that the Dodgers might actually pioneer this strategy.

[25 Nuggets]

I feel like the Dodgers are 29-24 in spite of themselves. Everybody knew going into the season that somebody's ego would get hurt and it looks like Kemp drew the short straw. Strange as it may sound, I do not envy Don Mattingly for all the paper talent he has.

[Ruzious]

Crawford, Ethier, and Kemp combine to make a hair under 60 mil this year, and Puig is their best all-around OFer by a lot this year.

At some point, if you spend so much money, you'd have to make a record number of mistakes to not win.

[25 Nuggets]

Oh? I bet I could make a $200 mil team that would be the worst in baseball this year. In fact, let me try.

[players w/ qualifying AB only]

C - Brian McCann (.645) - $17.00

1B - Nick Swisher (.631) - $15.00

2B - Brandon Phillips (.694) - $11.00

3B - Carlos Santana (.628) - $12.00

SS - Derek Jeter (.657) - $12.00

LF - Alejandro De Aza (.526) - $4.25

CF - B.J. Upton (.633) - $16.45

RF - Will Venable (.526) - $4.25

DH/IF - Billy Butler (.606) - $8.00

[All players]

C2 - J.P. Arencibia (.415) - $1.80

IF - Mark Ellis (.488) - $5.25

IF/OF - Willie Bloomquist (.473) - $2.80

OF - Cody Ross (.472) - $9.50

[players w/ qualifying IP only]

SP - John Danks (3-4, 4.90, 1.42) - $14.25

SP - Ricky Nolasco (2-5, 6.12, 1.57) - $12.00

SP - Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6, 4.98, 1.54) - $11.25

SP - Justin Masterson (2-4, 5.21, 1.54) - $9.76

SP - Francisco Liriano (0-5, 5.06, 1.50) - $6.00

[minimum 10 IP]

CL - Grant Balfour (0-1, 5.49, 1.58) - $4.00

RP - Jim Johnson (3-2, 6.00, 1.90) - $10.00

RP - Brian Wilson (0-2, 7.56, 2.16) - $10.00

RP - Heath Bell (1-1, 7.27, 1.85) - $9.00

RP - Jose Veras (0-1, 9.53, 2.03) - $3.85

RP - Sergio Santos (0-2, 9.00, 2.00) - $3.75

RP - Ross Detwiler (0-2, 5.24, 1.88) - $3.00

----------

TOTAL: $216.16 mil

RESULT: worse than the Astros

[DrungoHazewood]

C2 - J.P. Arencibia (.415) - $1.80

If you use a little bit of creative rounding J.P. Arencibia and Tom Glavine have pretty much the same OBP in the same number of career plate appearances.

Oh, and on some level Willie Bloomquist is the most awesome player ever. He's exactly the same as he was at 24, now he's 36. He's ageless - every year he OPSes about .650 and plays every position except catcher and pitcher. I fully expect him to be OPSing .650 and playing seven positions when he's 45.