Matt Kemp doesn't want out of Los Angeles. Unless he can't play every day.
Fox Sports reported Wednesday night that the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger, in the midst of a transition to left field, is interested in a trade if it means he can play every day and he can play in center field.
"Whatever they want to do we're favorable to, as long as it gives him an opportunity to play every day," said Dave Stewart, Kemp's agent and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher. "He'd like to eventually go back to center field. He's not opposed to right or left. But his hope at some point is to get back to center."
Kemp has played 40 of the team's last 42 games in the outfield and his slowly returning to his 2011 form when he finished as runner-up in the National League Most Valuable Player voting.
Since May 2, Kemp has raised his batting average from .205 to .269 and his OPS from .736 to .760, according to Fox Sports.
But Carl Crawford is coming back from an ankle injury, and the Dodgers will have five outfielders - Yasiel Puig, Andre Ethier, Scott Van Slyke, Kemp and Crawford vying for three spots.
The Dodgers, however, are contemplating whether to add insurance for their rotation or upgrade their bullpen. General manager Ned Colletti declined comment to Fox Sports when asked whether he would consider trading Kemp.
Colletti did not come out and say the Dodgers weren't trading Kemp.
The problem for the Dodgers is the precarious health of Hanley Ramirez, who along with Kemp and Puig is the team's right-handed power hitters. And Puig's power has cooled in the last 41 games; he has only a .391 slugging percentage, according to Fox Sports.
The Mariners and Red Sox inquired about his services in the offseason, and the Red Sox recently scouted the Dodgers, according to major-league sources. But the Dodgers still owe Kemp $107 million from 2015 through 2019, which could dissuade interest from other teams.
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