July 4: The club has announced the move, which is now official. Kemp has been added to the Rockies’ 60-man player pool.
June 30: The Rockies have struck a deal with veteran outfielder Matt Kemp, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). It’s a minor-league pact.
Kemp had spent the spring with the Marlins, but was left out of the Miami organization’s 60-man player pool. The Fish evidently cut him loose to pursue other opportunities, opening the door to Kemp joining his third NL West outfit.
This move simply wouldn’t have happened in late March, but intervening developments made it possible. We learned last night that right-handed-hitting Rockies veteran Ian Desmond would opt out of the 2020 season, leaving a potential roster spot. And the Rockies are newly in need of designated hitter options, given the expansion of the hitter-only spot to the National League for 2020.
The 35-year-old Kemp is coming off of a rough 2019 season in which he struggled with injuries and hit poorly in a 20-game run with the Reds. He wasn’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball in Grapefruit League action, with a .143/.200/.143 slash and 11 strikeouts in thirty plate appearances.
That said, it wasn’t long ago that the former superstar was mashing MLB pitching. In 506 trips to the plate with the Dodgers in 2018, he launched 25 home runs and carried a .290/.338/.481 batting line.
It’ll be interesting to see whether and how Kemp is utilized by the Rox. The club presumably won’t find it hard to carry him on the expanded early-season roster, having found space even last year for Mark Reynolds. The question is whether Kemp will be given a shot to take on a bigger role than that previously occupied by Reynolds. At present, the Colorado roster skews heavily towards lefty bats in the outfield mix, but Kemp’s defensive abilities have waned notably over the years.
Might not be a bad late round flyer in fantasy
You draft kickers early in fantasy football, don’t you?
Maybe in a 30-team league.
Ring ring (telephone)
“Hello, Ian Desmond here…”
“Hi, Ian, it’s Matt Kemp – I know we don’t talk much anymore, but Ian – you were the first person I thought of – can you help me – I need a job.”
“Matt, I’m not sure I can help. What sort of role are you looking for?”
“Ian, I’ll try to explain – it’s a little unusual… By the way, how is your good lady? And the kids?”
“Matt – she’s pregnant as usual – and the kids are, well you know, you try to let them play…”
“Sure Ian, sure. Thing is pal, rumo(u)r has it that you actually don’t want to suit up this year, and I’m – kinda – err – in between roles right now.”
“Ian, let me text you this picture – it’s me in Rockie purple.”
“Matt – please warn me in future. My kids are now hiding behind the couch because you look like one of Grandma’s enflamed haemorrhoids.”
“Err, thanks Ian, say what you see….”
“Matt, I’ve gotta be honest here – the job is yours. The Rockies are saving $5.5 million pro-rata with me staying at home and writing for Instagram and most of the Rockies fans seem happy about this.”
“Ian, I don’t know how to thank you, other than hitting .200, are you sure?”
“Matt, honestly, you’re doing me the favour. If you’ve ever tried to hit in Colorado, it’s akin to being on the moon. They give you $70 million over five years for doing it, but…”
“Sorry Ian, you’ve lost me….”
“The ball thing Matt, the ball thing. It floats around and only Arenado can hit it. And even then he has these real anger issues about being able to hit it. I tell you Matt, it’s put me off for the best part of four years.”
“Ian, should I call the Giants instead?”
“What, and be kept in a cage as Hunter Pence’s designated gimp/pinch runner? Matt – that really makes no sense… And I know Hunter, he’s all talk and no trousers. He’d love you and leave you….”
Are you okay man?
i salute the creativity
@24Thekid @Tom 84
I’m fine thank you and thank you for your kind concern. Have spent a lovely summer Tuesday afternoon drinking mild rum cocktails with my wife whilst walking across north London parks and nature reserves.
Then I get home to read all of this madness…..
8.3
One of the greatest posts here ever!
Lmao
Nicely done, A’s fan UK. John Oliver, is this you?
Happy Fourth of July. Lol.
Lifelong Dodgers fan here.. it will be weird to see Matt Kemp in a Rockies uni, but I’m happy for him. The Bison is fun to watch when he’s healthy and playing well.
Yes, Halley’s Comet, also, is beautiful. You should catch it in 2061 when it comes back ’round.
might be a bit late for a Kemp comeback then
Something tells me Kemp will be doing his best impression of position-Edwin Jackson at 77, holding out for a major league deal.
No need to worry he won’t be in the uniform when games begin.
Possible DH candidate?
Wow, what great insight. It’s almost like that was mentioned in the article that only took about 75 seconds to read.
This site has become full of edge lords.
I don’t edging has anything to do with MLBTR.
I think they are going to try him at catcher.
I’m glad that he was signed by the Rockies.
I am a Dodger fan as well. It will be fun to see Kemp get some run in this year. I hope he plays well and gets to extend his career a bit!
I hope he does good too man. I know I’m a troll and a joke but in all seriousness….. I’ll never forget when he was a dodger what he did for that young fan with cancer. He signed a ball, gave him his jersey, and even gave him his cleats! He walked out with no shoes on and gave someone the shirt off his back. What a humble person. You have to commend that.
Good for Kemp. the DH in Colorado is a good spot for him,
There goes Sam Hillard’s playing time possibly the kid is a big breakout candidate but the Rockies love their unproductive vets
Career 1.005 OPS in 86 games at Coors Field — by far his highest among parks he’s played a serious numbers of games in. He put up good offensive numbers in 2018 before his short 2019 campaign, so this is an intriguing DH signing.
Hilliard-Dahl-Blackmon in the OF with Tapia as the 4th OF and Kemp as the DH…?
Kemp wont get everyday ABs most likely. Probably just a ‘lets see what he has left’ signing that turns into a .741 OPS as a Daniel Murphy platoon partner
Wont Murohy play 1b?
If the Rox were smart, they’d roll with McMahon at 1B and Rodgers/Hampson at 2B. They need to find out what they have.
So you’re probably right. Murphy at 1B and Kemp at DH.
Well if he wants to have a comeback season, Colorado is the place to do it.
Not a Rockies fan but confused by this move. Desmond gifts the team a way out of its too-many-well-past-prime-veterans roster hole, and the first thing Bridich does is reach for a shovel.
Give the youngsters a chance at full-time reps for cripes sake. What better time to find out what you have to work with going forward?
Why give the youngsters a chance when the Rox are going to be the equivalent of a 92-win team this year lol…..
Bill if you weren’t joking….. I would think this was Richard monforts burner account
Signing him doesn’t mean a guarantee of playing time. It’s a weird season so having a veteran with his pedigree is never a bad thing.
Kemp at Coors…he may not be done yet
Better chance of Kemp drinking Coors then succeeding at Coors.
Haha, I thumbed both you and Darkside up here. I have no idea which one of you may turn out to be right.
This is correct. Kemp is gonna launch it like it’s on a Tee at Coors
Are walkers allowed as part of the customized 2020 rules?
Watch out for that outfield fence Matt!
So far you’re 0-1 vs it.
What could they be possibly thinking? They should have called up mega slugger Colton Welker instead.
Smart on Kemp’s part. With a DH and a great hitting park, smart move.
Use Kemp as DH against LHP with Murphy (occasionally Blackmon or Tapia) as the other half of the platoon. Worth a try especially given how Kemp has been great at Coors in the past.
Matt Kemp the People’s 2011 NL MVP. Glad to see he got signed. I follow him on Instagram and he had uploaded some videos of him taking infield grounders. Seems like a humble dude willing to learn new things and be put in new positions for a shot at continuing his baseball career. I’m a Dodgers fan, but would love to see Matt Kemp play well.
He is a humble guy. Ya gotta give em that
Kemp usually has a strong, fast start. I think this is good for him and the Rockies. Good luck to both!
More power to Kemp for getting a team to bite, but I don’t see him sticking for even this abbreviated season. Ya, he hit .290 in 2018, but that was mostly an unbelievable first two months and then a precipitous decline over the remainder of the season. I don’t think even Colorado’s thin air and huge outfield can revive Kemp’s career at this point, just too many hard miles and not enough drive in the old body.
Congrats Rockies. You just added a DH who couldn’t make the roster for a rebuilding team where Lewis Brinson made the team. But then again, Brinson can play the field.
Lewis was younger and had a lot of hype at a time. Usually people are willing to give a guy a try.
His career went down so fast. Especially after the trade to the Braves
He was actually pretty productive for the Braves, albeit in just 171 games (56 games in 2016 and 115 in 2017).
Hahaha….the Rockies
Good luck Matt!
Colorado must think they have a legitimate shot at the postseason.
There’s no other reason to not give their prospects an opportunity and their best shot might be with the prospects.
He could work at DH… the bat may still be decent… problem is he’s been out of position his whole career… he should’ve been a full time DH in the first place. Dunno why it took so long for the league to figure out he just can’t field.