One year ago this week, baseball was enjoying a blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers had sent off Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir and Charlie Culberson in exchange for Matt Kemp—but none of those names were especially important. The trade wasn’t about either team's players or performance. Instead, the trade was about money. The Dodgers had exceeded the threshold for the competitive balance tax for five years in a row, paying a higher rate with each passing year. They weren’t about to go over again. Thanks to the Kemp trade, they didn’t.
Dodgers' Creative Blockbuster Trade Shows the Art of Moving Money
