For the most part, the seemingly endless Matt Kemp trade rumors that always pop up this time of year have pretty much been kept in check. But all of that seemed to have changed on Friday morning when a series of tweets from Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal (and his infamous sources) sent the Twittersphere into a frenzy.

Judging by the replies to Rosenthal’s pot-stirring tweets, Dodger fans either: A) Went into panic mode; or B) Blew them off as yet another unsubstantiated Rosenthal rumor.

In May of 2013 after a painfully slow start to the season, Rosenthal reported that his “source close to the Dodgers” had told him that Dodgers manager Don Mattingly “would be fired, perhaps as early as tomorrow.” Mattingly, of course, was not fired and, in fact, led his team on a historic 42-8 run and the Dodgers ended up winning the NL West by a commanding 11-game margin over the second-place Diamondbacks. He was subsequently rewarded with a three-year contract extension.

Contrary to what Ken Rosenthal and his sources said, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was not fired in May of 2013. Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

To his credit, Rosenthal and his sources are usually accurate more often that not, so his rumors should never be completely ignored; however, with the Dodgers having just lost right-handed slugger Hanley Ramirez to the Boston Red Sox through free agency, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi would be insane to let their only other right-handed power-hitter go. Granted, Yasiel Puig has his moments, but he was anything but consistent (or clutch) at any time during the 2014 campaign.

After battling shoulder and ankle injuries for the past two and a half years, the 30-year-old Kemp had a second-half of the 2014 season that was reminiscent of his (should-have-been MVP) 2011 season, thus giving Dodger fans every indication that he is finally 100% healthy. After the All-Star break, Kemp hit .309 with a .365 on-base percentage. He also hit 17 of his 25 home runs and drove in 54 of his 89 RBIs in the second half. Keep in mind that there were actually only 65 games in the so-called second half after the All-Star break as compared to 97 games prior to the break.

It is simply inconceivable that the Dodgers would trade away their best right-handed hitter.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

When it comes to sources regarding the Dodgers, there are only two that really matter – Friedman and Zaidi. Ironically, Zaidi was a guest on AM 570 Radio on Friday morning with guest host Mike Hill. Here’s what Ryan Walton from Valley Bay News tweeted regarding the Zaidi interview:

For all of the prognosticators out there with their endless supply of  sources, take a brief moment to read what long-time ESPN writer Jayson Stark had to say about all of this trade Kemp nonsense:

Better still, this quote from Mike Petriello of Dodgers Digest sums up this whole Matt Kemp thing best:

“He’ll still be a Dodger, right up until the moment he’s not.”

…and as of this very moment Matt Kemp is still a Dodger.