According to both the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles Daily News, the Red Sox have asked for 21 year-old outfielder Matt Kemp in exchange for David Wells.
Tony Jackson of the L.A. paper actually suggests that the Red Sox requested a package of prospects including Kemp. As in, more than just Kemp. Jackson states that the request "probably makes the deal impossible unless Boston general manager Theo Epstein reduces his asking price."
That’s an understatement. Six years of Matt Kemp for a month or two of David Wells? That’d be even worse than two or three months of an infielder you don’t really need in exchange for Joel Guzman. The Dodgers are also talking about adding John Mabry, for some reason.
Kemp turns 22 in September. Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein named him as the fourth-best center field prospect in the game, behind Cameron Maybin, Chris Young, and Justin Upton. Most of those will be household names in two or three years. Goldstein mentions that Kemp’s size could force a move to a corner outfield position eventually. Much has been made of Kemp’s power outage at Triple A, where he has three home runs in 43 games. However, he’s still slugging .554 due to 14 doubles and six triples. The power is fine. His plate discipline may need a little fine-tuning though.
Another reason Kemp and other top-flight prospects are probably staying put: anyone on the 40-man roster has to pass through waivers. Why would the 29 other teams allow a stud outfield prospect to pass by unclaimed? That would be one hell of a gentleman’s agreement.
