Matt Kemp's declaration that he won't accept being the Los Angeles Dodgers' fourth outfielder in 2014 puts the organization in a precarious position.
Find someone who is willing among Carl Crawford, Andre Eithier or Yasiel Puig, or trade one and hope that the other three play to their potential.
Yes, even Puig factors into the trade equation.
All four have some baggage to overcome.
Kemp's injuries are the biggest concern. He has not been the same player since his 2011 season when he hit 39 home runs, knocked in 126 runs, batted .324 and had 40 stolen bases. Hamstring, ankle and shoulder injuries derailed his 2012 and 2013 seasons.
He's in the third year of an eight-year, $160 million contract.
Puig, who hit .319 with 19 home runs, 42 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 104 games last season is due just more than $3.7 million, according to baseballsalaries.com. However, his aggressiveness during his rookie season - both on and off the field - often got him into trouble.
Manager Don Mattingly benched him for a game because he wasn't in the right frame of mind to play a game. He often missed the cutoff throw on defense, believing his arm could gun down any player. He started celebrating as soon as he hit what he thought was a home run in the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals that stayed in the park.
And twice he faced reckless driving charges in the last year stemming from incidents in Tennessee (going 97 mph in a 50 mph zone) last April and in Florida (going 110 in a 70 mph zone) last month. He apologized for those incidents, according to ESPN, and has hired a driver, but further incidents could cause the Dodgers to reconsider his status on the team.
Crawford is in his fourth year of a seven-year, $142 million deal. He hit a respectable .283 with six home runs, 31 RBIs, 62 runs scored and 15 stolen bases in 116 games. But he is 32 years old and is four years removed from his 2010 season in which he batted .307 with 19 home runs, 90 RBIs and 47 stolen bases.
Ethier, who will be 32 in April, is in the third year of a five-year, $85 million contract. He hit .272 last season, in which he was hampered by a microfracture in his left leg at the end of last season. He had 12 homers, 52 RBIs and 54 runs scored.
Those totals are well off his career-best year in 2009 when he batted .272 but had 31 home runs, 106 RBIs and scored 92 runs.
Experts assume Puig is exempt from the trading block, but remember, these Dodgers have much more resources than they've had in the past, and Puig certainly would get the most in return for a trade if his immaturity resurfaces in 2014.
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