The deal — originally agreed upon eight days ago but held up because of concerns over Kemp’s arthritic hips — relieves the Dodgers’ glut of outfielders. The Rollins acquisition will plug the hole at shortstop, although Kemp’s impact bat is handed to a division rival that seems determined to become a contender.
Added to the Dodgers’ big league depth chart are Grandal, second baseman Howie Kendrick, starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy and reliever Chris Hatcher. Rollins and free-agent starting pitcher Brett Anderson are a press release away. A trio of prospects is infused into a mending farm system.
But Kemp, second baseman Dee Gordon, starting pitcher Dan Haren, infielder Miguel Rojas and Federowicz are gone from the back-to-back National League West champs.
To recap the finalized acquisitions:
• Hatcher, catcher Austin Barnes, utility man Enrique Hernandez and pitcher Andrew Heaney were acquired from Miami for Gordon, Haren, Rojas and cash.
• Kendrick was acquired from the Angels for Heaney.
• Grandal, Wieland and Eflin were acquired from San Diego for Kemp, $32 million and Federowicz.
• McCarthy signed for $48 million and four years.
• Still pending: Acquisition of Rollins and cash from Philadelphia for Minor League pitchers Windle and Eflin; signing of Anderson to a one-year, $10 million contract.
Dodgers add Grandal, Rollins
Hot Stove on Dodgers adding Rollins, Grandal
MLB.com’s Hot Stove discusses the Dodgers’ additions of Yasmani Grandal from the Padres and Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies
When the dust settles, the new management team will have turned over half of the 40-man roster, half of the starting infield, two-fifths of the starting rotation and up to half of the starters at the eight other positions.
Skeptics call it a demolition of a 94-win club. Optimists, like club president Stan Kasten, say it better positions the franchise to win in 2015 as well as the future.
The transactions will add a pair of 30-something middle infielders in their free-agent years, a pair of starters with lengthy medical charts and subtract a pair of All-Star caliber players at, or approaching, their prime — Kemp and Gordon.
“Today we have a better feel and comfort level for what the 25-man roster might look like,” general manager Farhan Zaidi said this week. “We’ve addressed a lot of our points of need. It’s hard for me to say we’re done, or we’ve done everything we want to do.
“Our early moves created depth. This wave of moves has created a more balanced roster one to 25. Some of these for us were on the defensive side of the ball where we’ve upgraded significantly, and that’s important to us when we’ve invested money in pitching to get the most out of those guys. Being strong defensively up the middle was a priority in the first wave of moves.”
The infield around the horn: Juan Uribe, Rollins, Kendrick and Adrian Gonzalez. The outfield has Yasiel Puig in right, Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke in left, rookie Joc Pederson and Chris Heisey in center. Grandal and A.J. Ellis are behind the plate.
The rotation has Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, McCarthy and Anderson (pending). Bullpen returnees Kenley Jansen, Brandon League, J.P. Howell, Paco Rodriguez, Pedro Baez, Carlos Frias and Yimi Garcia are joined by newcomers Joel Peralta, Hatcher, Juan Nicasio and Mike Bolsinger. The bench includes Justin Turner, Alex Guerrero, Darwin Barney, Andre Ethier and Erisbel Arruebarrena.
The front office made the choice to deal Kemp after deciding Puig was untouchable, because right field is the best spot for both.
Moving out Kemp and sliding Puig back to right assures better defense in center. Before all of the moves, the executive team floated out its willingness to trade away offense for tighter defense. Of all the outfielders other than Puig, Kemp brought the greatest return and moved the most salary.
There is one consistency between the end of Ned Colletti’s time in charge and the beginning of Andrew Friedman’s — clinging tightly to top prospects Pederson, Corey Seager and Julio Urias, in keeping with Kasten’s belief that to create a sustainable business model the franchise must return to its roots as a factory of player development.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
