Heyman: Dodgers Want Prospect Austin Hedges?

It is well known that the Los Angeles Dodgers have been looking to move outfielder Matt Kemp since last off-season. With the San Diego Padres in dire need of some impact bats to complement their pitching staff, rumors have surfaced that the two teams could be an ideal fit to pull of a deal–a rarity in the NL West, where the Dodgers sit atop the mountain, and the Padres are attempting to gain traction. 

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Per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, he believes the deal between the two teams could surround Kemp, and top Padres catching prospect Austin Hedges. Heyman states the two areas of concern for the Dodgers are the starting rotation–which happens to possess the current Cy Young winner in Clayton Kershaw and former winner Zack Greinke, would be also interested in one of the Padres’ big three–Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross or Ian Kennedy. The other area of concern is behind the dish. The Dodgers were believed to be in on a reunion with Russell Martin, but that abruptly ended with Martin’s signing with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ideally, the Padres would like to keep Hedges, who many consider to be the top catching prospect in all of baseball, and instead move either Yasmani Grandal, or Rene Rivera, who happened to have his best offensive season in the bigs in 2014. Grandal led the Padres in home runs with 15. Hedges’ bat needs to continue to develop before he sees the big leagues, but his defense, arm, and pitch-framing skills are ready at this point. It would take an elite arm, and either Hedges, or one of the other two catchers, and perhaps a third player to rip the MVP runner up away from the Boys in Blue.

The other question would be the amount of money exchanging hands. Kemp is owed $107 million over the next 5 years, and for the Padres to give up an elite arm AND their best prospect, the deep-pocketed Dodgers would have to eat much of that deal.