Trotsky said:If his fielding is as bad as UZR's assesment then LF in Fenway would be great for him for a few years with a potential DH move further down the line then, assuming his offensive numbers can keep him as a middle of the order bat, then no?
This is a great idea if you are expecting him to hit like Manny Ramirez in his prime. Kemp has done that once in his career, in 2011. I don't think he can be an even average defensive right fielder in Fenway, so you have to get all your value from his bat as a LF/DH type. He was good (though not Manny-good) offensively in 2007 (98 games), 2009, and 2012 (106 games). He was pretty mediocre in 2006 (52 games), 2008, 2010, and 2013 (73 games).
When you throw in the recent injuries, and the fact that he would be signed until he's 35, I just think I would take the under on him being Manny Ramirez with the bat for the majority of that 6 year contract. If he was a FA, I don't think he would be getting 6/128 on the open market after the year he just had.
It's not inconceivable Kemp returns to form and is a dominant middle of the order force for most of the next 6 years. But paying paying 128M to find out seems like a huge risk for something that I think is at best a 50/50 proposition. Paying 80M or so? Maybe you could convince me of that... (though I still think its a pretty big risk).