Report: Dodgers, Padres agree to blockbuster trade involving Matt Kemp - MLB

Update (6:15 AM EST): A source tells Kirk Kenney and Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego that it’s a done deal. The Dodgers are sending Tim Federowicz along with Kemp to San Diego for Grandal and Eflin, as well as Joe Wieland (Joe Ross, as previously reported below, does not appear to be involved). The Dodgers are kicking in around $30 million to help offset the $107 million over five years left on Kemp’s contract.

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Jon Heyman of CBS Sports is reporting that the Dodgers and Padres are close to a deal to send superstar outfielder Matt Kemp to sunny San Diego in a blockbuster trade. Heyman writes that the two sides are exchanging final details. A source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the deal is “closer but not done”.

On the Padres’ side, they appear to be giving up catcher Yasmani Grandal along with minor league pitchers Joe Ross and Zach Eflin. Per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers are looking for a catcher to pair with A.J. Ellis and Grandal certainly fits that bill. In 443 plate appearances for the Padres last season, Grandal hit .225/.327/.401 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI.

Kemp will earn $21 million in 2015 and $21.5 million in each season between 2016-19. The Dodgers would almost certainly be helping out with the finances. The Padres, of course, will get a big boost to their offense which ranked dead last in the National League, averaging 3.30 runs per game this past season. Kemp showed, by batting .287/.346/.506 for the Dodgers in 2014, that he can still be one of the game’s most fearsome hitters when he’s healthy.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has had a busy 24 hours, having also notched deals for shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Howie Kendrick,signing starter Brandon McCarthy to a four-year deal, and trading second baseman Dee Gordon.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”