There was no pretense about what the Matt Kemp trade was about. This was a pure salary dump to reset the Luxury Tax penalties before next year’s monster free agent class, potentially headlined by their own once-in-a-generation pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. At its most basic, it was simply an accounting move. We’ll give you one year of bad contracts (and throw in Charlie Culberson as a sweetener!). You give us roughly the same amount back, but spread over two years so we can squeeze under the salary cap. It was as simple as that.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop…
As expected, Atlanta released Adrian Gonzalez the next day.