Atlanta Braves trade Matt Kemp in five player deal
By Fred Owens
The Players
In 16 starts prior to going on the DL McCarthy posted an 11-5 record throwing 86 2/3 innings at a 3.84 ERA striking out 66, walking 25 and allowing five home runs. That’s pretty good work for a fifth starter in today’s game.
AA’s comment to Bowman indicated that Culberson becomes the utility man for the Braves in 2018 allowing Camargo to play third base full-time. Culberson rode his glove to the majors and that’s still his carrying tool. He has however come up big in critical situations for the Dodgers.
In 2016 his home run helped Los Angeles claim the NL West title. When Cory Seager went down near the end of this season, the Dodgers chose Culberson to play short during the NLCS. He rewarded them by going 5 for 11 and finishing with a .455/.417/.818/1.235 line as the Dodgers sent the Cubs home early.
The GM didn’t say anything about Kazmir. What, if anything, the Braves get from the lefty is a question only time can answer. He’s a perennially broken pitcher who had a short renaissance in 2014 and the first half of 2015, then reverted to his old self in Houston after arriving there at the 2015 trade deadline.
For reasons known only to them, the Dodgers gave him a big contract before 2016 and saw him fail to live up to it that season. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since September 23, 2016 and made only four minor league appearances in 2017; three starts throwing three innings each time in a two-week period and one three inning relief stint in September.
If he can pitch well the Braves may have caught lightning in a bottle. If not his $17.6M is the cost of giving Ronald Acuna a job on opening day.