The Real Reason the Dodgers Traded Matt Kemp

Those of you who follow baseball know that the Dodgers made arguably their worst trade in franchise history when they traded their best hitting outfielder Matt Kemp this past offseason, to the division rival San Diego Padres no less. One might wonder why the Dodgers would make such a bonehead move, but I can explain why in this post. It is also well known that Matt Kemp is a prominent supporter of a cure for autism. His younger brother Carlton is severely autistic, and will likely never have sex, drive a car, go to college, or live independently. While Kemp was dating pop singer Rihanna, the two of them sponsored a charity poker tournament at the Dodgers spring training site in Arizona which benefited autism-cure charities. One might then ask why, given his seemingly good charitable endeavors, why they would trade him away. Enter Zack Greinke Greinke, who has Asperger's, is a pitcher who signed with the Dodgers prior to the 2013 season. In 2006, while playing for the Kansas City Royals, Greinke nearly quit the game alleging discrimination against his Asperger's by then Royals manager Buddy Bell. Only after the threat of a lawsuit was Greinke finally welcomed back, albeit grudgingly. Due to his Asperger's, Greinke obviously supports neurodiversity, although it's not clear when this fact became known. In April of 2013, shortly after Greinke's arrival on the Dodgers, Kemp actually vigorously defended Greinke in a fight against Kemp's current team the Padres, getting himself ejected from the game in the process. After the fight, an executive with the Padres derisively called Greinke "Rain Man," an obvious allusion to his autism. It is possible that this triggered a behind-the-scenes argument between Greinke and Kemp, exposing their philosophical differences and thus creating a rift between them. When Greinke engaged in another fight with the Arizona Diamondbacks just two months later, Kemp was nowhere in sight. After the Dodgers' elimination from the playoffs last season at the behest of the St. Louis Cardinals, they underwent a major front office change. The most notable example was hiring former Tampa Bay Rays general manager Andrew Friedman as their new president of baseball operations. Friedman is a self-proclaimed sabermetric nerd, and many so-called "nerds" either claim to have autism and/or support neurodiversity. Greinke has a unique clause in his contract in which he can opt out without penalty and become a free agent following this season. It is likely that, once the new front office took over, Greinke threatened to invoke the clause if Kemp was not traded. Friedman, being a proud "nerd," readily agreed. Well, my friends, now you know why the Dodgers traded Matt Kemp. It was because they sold out to neurodiversity.