Report: Dodgers pursuing trades to relieve crowded outfield
The Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to remove the logjam from their crowded outfield and are looking to trade Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier, reports Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
According to Rosenthal, the only outfielder that Los Angeles is not willing to trade is Yasiel Puig. The team is also willing to include "significant money depending upon return" for one or all of the players.
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All three players are over 30 years old and have multiple years and millions of dollars left on their contract. Kemp, 30, hit .287 with 25 home runs and 89 RBI in 150 games last season. He still has five years and $107 million left on this contract.
Crawford, 33, has three years and almost $63 million left on his deal. He hit eight home runs with 46 RBI and missed time last season with an ankle injury.
Ethier, 32, played in 130 games in 2014 and set career lows in home runs, RBI, batting averaged and OPS. Ethier is owed $18 million in 2015 and 2016, $17.5 million in 2017, and has $17.5 million club option in 2018 with a $2.5 million buyout.
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The Dodgers won 94 games and the National League West with the majors' highest payroll. They were beaten in four games in the NLDS by the St. Louis Cardinals.
This offseason, the team hired Andrew Friedman to take over as president of baseball operations and Oakland A’s executive Farhan Zaidi as their new general manager. Josh Byrnes, a former GM for the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, will supervise scouting and player development.
The team also announced that manager Don Mattingly will return for a fifth season.
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