Over the life of Matt Kemp 's stay in San Diego, the Padres ' headline-grabbing deal with the Dodgers will be reevaluated almost religously. In the last nine months alone, the narrative has already shifted a number of times since A.J. Preller took a wrecking ball to the Padres' roster.

In December, the Padres had pulled a productive player off a rival to land their superstar. In May, they'd given up a rising star behind the plate for a past-his-prime veteran. Sometime next spring, talk will revolve around the Padres' financial commitment to Kemp skyrocketing from $3.25 million to $18.25 million.

Today, the pertinent question is: Did the Padres win the trade?

Of course, we can't definitely say that for a number of years, but one thing is clear: The playoff-bound Dodgers are missing Matt Kemp.

They were no-hit twice in a span of nine days. They're averaging 2.83 runs over their last 12 games. Joc Pederson 's production has fallen off a cliff in the second half, Yasiel Puig had been a shell of himself before landing on the DL – again – and Yasmani Grandal is 0-for-24 over his last eight games.

As for Kemp?

Miss me, much? wRC+ HR RBI Avg / OBP / SLG RF Matt Kemp 150 9 38 .303/.367.542 -- OF Andre Ethier 137 3 11 .320/.360/.495 1B Adrian Gonzalez 126 7 24 .286/.351/.468 3B Justin Turner 107 4 13 .255/.321/.436 OF Yasiel Puig 107 7 24 .250/.296/.457 SS Jimmy Rollins 92 5 12 .238/.294/.396 OF Joc Pederson 80 4 8 .159/.316/.299 C Yasmani Grandal 61 1 6 .213/.292/.266

Massive defensive flaws aside (minus-8 defensive runs saved is worst among all NL right fielders), his second-half surge has transformed his season into a largely productive one.

His 85 RBIs not only tops all Dodgers hitters, they are tied for third in the NL and have him on pace for the third 100-RBI season of his career (first since MVP-caliber 2011 season). Thirty-eight of those runs have come in 41 games after the All-Star break as Kemp as put a dismal May (.437 OPS) in his rearview mirror.

True, the Dodgers may be better off going younger in the long run. Yet if their playoff hopes fizzle before lifting a World Series trophy in October (or is November now?), Kemp may indeed look like a glaring omission from the Dodgers' sagging lineup.