Over the past week a war has been waged over Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp. It is a war that has absolutely nothing to do with Kemp’s tremendous baseball skills or even his lofty eight-year/$160 contract – the highest in Dodgers history until two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw signed his new franchise-record seven-year/$215 million contract on January 15 – the largest contract in MLB history for a pitcher.

No, the Kemp War involves his status among his fellow All-Star-caliber outfielders – Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig and his apparent need to convince Dodger fans (and the media) that he not only deserves to be an everyday player, but he expects to be an everyday player and will accept nothing less. It is also a war that Kemp declared himself and one that may not end to his liking.

“I don’t know where you get this fourth outfielder talk from, man,” said a visibly annoyed Kemp to the media on Friday. “You all love talking about four outfielders, man. That’s like the question of the day every day. I think all four of us outfielders feel the same way. None of us are fourth outfielders. Everybody wants to play every day. I won’t accept that role. I can’t accept that role.”

Perhaps it is merely a matter of semantics or simply a misinterpretation of the term ‘fourth outfielder’ and perhaps Kemp would have less hostility or contempt towards the media if the term ‘alternating outfielders’ had been used instead, but the simple fact is that when healthy at the same time the Dodgers will have four extremely talented outfielders for only three outfield positions.

While many Dodger fans may interpret Kemp’s comments as being nothing more than his own self confidence (and rightfully so), the manner in which he delivered (and continues to deliver) his comments may be seen by some as being excessively arrogant and has Dodger fans divided into two very distinctive camps – hence the Kemp War.

Even when 100% healthy, Matt Kemp figures to split time in center field with Andre Ethier. Additionally, Dodger manager Don Mattingly plans to have Yasiel Puig work out in center field this spring as well.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

No one will argue that the 29-year-old Midwest City, Oklahoma native is extremely talented and has the potential to become a Hall of Fame-caliber five-tool player, but the cold hard truth is that not only did the Dodgers succeed for much (most) of the 2013 season when they went on an MLB record-setting 42-8 run, won the NL West by an 11-game margin and came to within one game of making it to the 2013 World Series, they did it all without Matt Kemp in their lineup.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has repeatedly said that having four All-Star-caliber outfielders is a good problem to have.

“I think it’s a strength for us,” said Colletti. “I think it’s something that, with the injuries assuming we’ll battle through I think it’s the wisest approach, and you’ve got ‘X’ number of games, you’ve got 162 times three – that’s almost 500 games that you’ve got to cover. It gives guys a chance to take a break once in awhile, it gives a guy a chance to get a day off, a chance to have some competition, so I’m all for it.”

While Colletti’s comments may sound good and give the appearance that having four All-Star-caliber outfielders is a good problem to have, it appears that it is already beginning to have the effect that many Dodger fans feared that it might have – creating some animosity in the Dodgers clubhouse even before they have played their first spring training game.

Whether Kemp’s ‘fourth outfielder’ comments are genuine or nothing more than an attempt at self justification, they seem to have Dodger beat writers and even a few national media guys divided in their take of the Kemp War:

“Sometimes, baseball just trundles on without a guy,” writes Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. “Some wild-ass Cuban kid shows up doing wild-ass things, a ballclub goes from 9 ½ back to 9 ½ up in, like, a weekend and plays into mid-October, and the best player in the game for a few months once is moved to point out, ‘I’m not a fourth outfielder.'”

“The Dodgers listened to trade offers for Kemp and their other outfielders this winter, but no teams made an offer they found particularly tempting,” writes ESPNLA’s Mark Saxon. “Presuming Kemp proves he is healthy by the end of spring training, those talks could revive.”

And then there’s the other camp:

“I’m super high on Matt Kemp, I think he’ll be the best Dodger position player next season, even over Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig,” writes Lasorda’s Lair blogger Adrian Garcia. My feelings on Kemp are out there, he’s my favorite Dodger, and sticking up for your favorite player is better than trashing him for things out of his control. Hanley Ramirez has shown that a player with diminished speed and the labrum shoulder can in fact come back and be a 5 win player, I don’t think there’s any reason we should think Matt Kemp wont do something similar given his incredible work ethic and love for this team/city.”

Although Garcia refers to those who oppose Kemp’s comments as haters or ‘Hysteria’, the truth of the matter is that it really has nothing to do with personal feelings towards or against Matt Kemp at all. Instead, it has everything to do with Kemp’s health and his ability to stay on the field. I wholeheartedly agree with Garcia that if Kemp can stay healthy and can give the Dodgers 150 games in 2014 (or even 130 to 140), he could very well be the best player on the team in 2014. The problem is Kemp hasn’t been able to even come close to these numbers over the past two injury-ridden seasons. He appeared in 106 games in 2012 and only 73 in 2013, and it has been all but confirmed that Kemp will begin the 2014 season either on the bench or on the DL. And while Kemp insists that he is “…not made of glass,” the painful truth is that he has been exactly this for the past two season – regardless of what he says or wants us to believe.

Here again, a healthy Matt Kemp in the Dodgers lineup is a terrifying thing for opposing pitchers and catchers, and for opposing hitters when he is patrolling center field, but his career Wins Against Replacement (an entirely different kind of ‘WAR’) tend to suggest that he is not among the best outfielders in the game. This from ESPNLA’s David Schoenfield:

“Here are Kemp’s season-by-season WAR totals, via Baseball-Reference, since he became a regular in 2008 and where he ranked among all major league outfielders (minimum 275 plate appearances): 

2008: 3.9 (18th)
2009: 4.8 (9th)
2010: -1.1 (102nd)
2011: 8.1 (1st)
2012: 2.4 (41st)
2013: 0.5 (79th)

“Is that the résumé of a superstar?” asked Schoenfield. “No, not even close. Kemp was awesome in 2011, maybe the best player in baseball. But that’s one year of awesomeness. He was very good in 2008 and 2009, not so good in 2010 when his average fell to .249 and his defense was disastrous according to the metrics (-37 Defensive Runs Saved). After his big 2011, the Dodgers bet big, signing him to an eight-year, $160 million extension.”

What is most troubling about all of this fourth outfielder/who plays and who sits nonsense is that the single-most important factor has been completely overlooked by Matt Kemp – What’s best for the team? This isn’t about Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier or Carl Crawford or Yasiel Puig, it’s about the Los Angeles Dodgers and about Don Mattingly putting out the best team that has the best chance of winning on any given day – period.

The point to all of this is that Kemp is doing himself no good at all (with Dodger fans or the media) by claiming that he is not a fourth outfielder and insisting that he will play everyday when he hasn’t even started running at spring training camp yet and is expected to begin the 2014 season either on the bench or on the DL.

Simply put, until Matt Kemp is 100% healthy and available to play, he isn’t even a fourth outfielder.