Veteran infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp has elected to become a free agent after clearing outright waivers, the Orioles announced. Kemp was designated for assignment earlier this week, and he has enough MLB service time to request a return to the open market rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.
Kemp could now be joining his third team in less than two months. The Reds inked Kemp to a minor league deal in February but then released him on March 19, so the 32-year-old a bit of an early start ahead of the wave of players cut loose at the end of spring camps. The Orioles ended up signing Kemp to a guaranteed deal worth $1MM, making for a decent payday for what ended up as five games for Kemp in a Baltimore uniform. A new team that signs Kemp would only owe him the prorated minimum salary for his time on a big league roster, while the O’s are on the hook for whatever remains of the $1MM.
Apart from two innings at shortstop, Kemp has played exclusively as a second baseman and left fielder over the last five seasons. Kemp has hit .238/.329/.342 over 1498 plate appearances in that same span, though even that modest production is largely carried by a solid 2021 campaign. Since Opening Day 2022, Kemp has hit only .222/.304/.318 in 987 PA with the Athletics and Orioles.
Despite this lack of recent production, Kemp’s versatility, left-handed bat, and reputation as a clubhouse leader earned him some attention from multiple teams this past offseason, so it seems likely that he’ll land elsewhere in pretty short order. Speculatively speaking, a return to Cincinnati might make sense, given how the Reds’ once-vaunted position-player depth has continued to take hits since Kemp was released.
Can he play at least an average defensive shortstop? If so, the Red Sox should sign him.
I doubt it. But he could play second when/if they put Grissom in the 6 hole. I think he’s a good fit there.
He’s played 2 innings at SS in his major league career… so I doubt it
Surprised to see this as I thought he was on a guaranteed deal with the O’s. I would’ve figured he would take the AAA assignment and bank the money.
He gets to keep it. Too much service time.
@brianstrowman9 Thanks, I forgot that element about service time.
It’s covered in the article.
@hawktattoo The article was updated with that info after I left the comment.
No problem..just letting you know it was there.
It’s true that he is a LH bat; but what good is a LH bat if he can’t hit the ball?
This was the weirdest part of the Orioles offseason. Not signing a FA starter, you can kind of understand based on $, but paying this guy when you have the position depth the Orioles do seemed unwise.
He was just a willing stopgap until they brought Holliday up.
if he does latch on with another team on a major league squad, it probably works out to $300k or so in sunk costs by the O’s for the 5 games. Not the worst thing in the world I guess. his exit Tweet to Holliday was a classy way to leave BAL. I wish him all the best.
The buzz around this kid has been a tiny been puzzling to me. He’s never been that good. Few solid years but he was always a bit overrated to me. Hope he lands somewhere
Yea it was thought he’d be better then he was. Hes a good bench piece, can play IF/OF, can steal a few bases. Definitely got more run with Oakland over the past few years then he would have with a more talented roster.
If class were a baseball skill Tony Kemp would be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Everyone should be a fan of his.
Loved how he cheered on Holliday after his DFA. Seems like a very grounded guy.