Kemp competing for time in crowded Reds OF

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Reds' corner outfield situation isn’t just crowded. It’s so beyond capacity that at-bats will be difficult to find for some players who have track records for hitting well.

Perhaps the most perplexing part of it: where does Matt Kemp fit in all of this? It’s a challenge in front of manager David Bell and the front office.

“It’s a great question, because he’s been such a good player for so long,” Bell said on Monday. “He’s the kind of player that can carry a team. He’s that kind of offensive player. He’s been on good teams, he’s been on great teams. He just brings so much. I don’t have the answer to that.”

A three-time All-Star with 280 career home runs and two Gold Glove Awards, Kemp let it be known he wasn’t the one to provide clarity.

“You have to ask them,” Kemp replied on Monday. “I’m just here to play. Just write what you need to write, because I’m not going to give you anything.”

Kemp started in left field and batted third during Monday’s split-squad 3-3 tie vs. the D-backs in Scottsdale. He went 1-for-2 with a solo homer, his second home run of the spring.

In a seven-player trade with the Dodgers on Dec. 21, the Reds added two corner outfielders in Kemp and Yasiel Puig. They joined incumbent corner outfielders Scott Schebler, Jesse Winker and Phillip Ervin. Add Nick Senzel, the club's No. 1 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) who is an infielder competing for the regular center fielder’s job against Schebler, and things became more complicated.

Bell has said that Puig would likely get most of the time in right field, and he wants Winker -- a left fielder -- to get regular at-bats. Schebler can play all three outfield spots, but would likely play mostly in center if he beats out Senzel. If Senzel makes the 25-man roster, then Schebler would lack a starting position -- much like what appears to be the case for Kemp.

“Right now, what I’ve said to Matt is how I feel. We just have to let it play out, and we have to figure out a way to make it work,” Bell said. “I do believe, and I’ve said it a lot, that things do work themselves out. How exactly that’s going to happen, I don’t know. But having Matt Kemp on your team, it’s very difficult to not play a guy like that. He’s that kind of player.”

In the final year of his contract, Kemp is owed $21.5 million, but the Reds aren’t on the hook for all of it. The Dodgers included $7 million in the trade that sent them pitcher Homer Bailey and two prospects. Kemp is also being paid by the Padres from his tenure there.

That could make it easier for the Reds to find a trade partner for Kemp, if needed, or to release him. On the flip side, if there’s an injury or somebody struggles, Cincinnati having him would be a good plus.

Kemp, 34, was an All-Star in 2011 and ’12 during his first stint with the Dodgers. Upon his return to Los Angeles last season, he batted .290/.338/.481 with 21 home runs and 85 RBIs in 146 games. That included a red-hot first two months, but his numbers waned, and during a particularly anemic month of August, he became part of a platoon the rest of the 2018 season and was used mostly off the bench in the postseason as the Dodgers reached the World Series.

Asked if he was satisfied with last season, Kemp said, “I guess it all worked itself out."

Was Kemp disappointed to be traded out of Los Angeles, where he went from one crowded outfield to another in Cincinnati?

“It’s a business. I can’t be disappointed,” Kemp said. “I’ve still got a jersey on. I’m just happy to be playing baseball.”