After pushing the idea of trading for more pitching depth, Brian Cashman recently claimed that the Yankees' No.1 priority is now offense. Seeing as how Carlos Beltran has been relegated to DH duty thanks to a bone spur in his elbow, and Ichiro Suzuki is a pretty terrible full-time player, adding an outfielder might be a good move to make.
The Dodgers are said to be interested in trading Matt Kemp this season and are currently in contact with five teams about a potential deal. As it turns out, though, the Yankees are not currently one of those teams and, as of right now, they don't have much interest in entering the bidding.
Yanks are currently not in on Matt Kemp, according to a source.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 25, 2014While Kemp's .268/.333/.422 batting line in 2014 would absolutely be an improvement for the Yankees, taking on the 100+ million that is owed to him through the 2019 season would be absolutely insane, even if the Dodgers take on a good portion of the money. Thanks to some horrendous defense that led to his demotion from center field, he's actually been worth -0.8 WAR over the last two seasons. While Kemp still gets top billing as a superstar, his continuous injuries and inability to match the MVP-level numbers he once managed make him a player the Yankees should stay away from, even if he's still only 29 years old.