Matt Kemp

The hype machine is out of service.

Disappointment has surpassed hope as the overwhelming emotion. 

A scapegoat has already been unfairly blamed because it was the easiest, most predictable target.

For as wonderful as the World Series was, the three-and-a-half months that immediately followed were just as mesmerizing. 

Armed with new front offices, and/or money and/or a directive to get instantly better before spring training, several clubs aggressively went about this last offseason with a makeover in mind.

This isn't our first rebuilding rodeo.

The baseball-loving world has been in this exact position heading into spring training many times before, anticipating a team with a massive overhaul only to watch said team fizzle mightily during the season. The stench of those failures still wafts in the air, and the 2015 San Diego Padres are trying to avoid it sticking to them. 

There's less than three months remaining until Opening Day, and the Los Angeles Dodgers look decidedly different than they did at the beginning of the offseason.

For starters, the front office was stripped down and replaced with a new regime headed by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi.

If it wasn't obvious before, it certainly is now: The San Diego Padres are going for it in 2015. Like, really going for it, so much so that they have acquired an entirely new starting outfield made up of Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and now Justin Upton—just in the past week.

It didn't take long for the Los Angeles Dodgers' new front office to leave its mark on the city and franchise this offseason.

A+

No, seriously. A+. Catcher has been upgraded, shortstop has been upgraded, second base has been upgraded, depth has been added, and essentially all it cost was Matt Kemp and a left-handed pitching prospect named Tom Windle.

The start of the MLB season is still months away, but rumors surrounding some of the biggest stars are already getting chaotic. No player is safe during the winter meetings, including some of the most notable names for franchises.

Trading for Matt Kemp shouldn't feel like an equivalent to hitting on 17 in blackjack. And yet, there are a few good reasons for why it does.

We'll get to that. But first, we should clarify that it is sounding more and more like the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to trade Kemp this winter.

Prizes are only as valuable as the people who covet them.

That is why the first month-plus of Major League Baseball’s offseason has been a slugfest for those who slug. Like wild and crazy Black Friday shoppers looking for the season’s hottest toy in a snug department-store aisle, baseball executives are doing all they can to lure the winter’s best bats.