Matt Kemp was reportedly scheduled to take his physical with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. Two days later — seven days since the framework of the trade was agreed to by both teams — Kemp is still a Dodger.
So what’s the holdup?
The holdup in Matt Kemp trade is because the physical revealed arthritis in both hips. The #Padres continue to consult medical experts.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 18, 2014
For a 30-year-old player who has had serious shoulder and ankle issues the last two years, this diagnosis poses another serious blow. The arthritis might not be Kemp’s most serious problem at the moment.
Evidently Kemp has one team (the Dodgers) eager to trade him, and another (the Padres) who are willing to leak information from a physical exam that is typically kept confidential. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
“The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically. The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization. The Rule also gives patients rights over their health information, including rights to examine and obtain a copy of their health records, and to request corrections.”
A major league head athletic trainer once told me that routine team physicals (like Kemp’s) turn up all kinds of medical information that the public never learns. That information stays private because of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
If someone with the Padres violated that rule by disclosing Kemp’s arthritis, he or she has potentially angered the government, the player and the Dodgers, who thought they had a trade in place two days ago when GM Farhan Zaidi said he wasn’t worried about the trade being completed. Maybe that’s still the case.
Matt Kemp’s agent, Junior Spivey, says of trade, “Everything is OK. We’re just waiting on the final details. Should be good to go.” — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 18, 2014
Either way, the final step needed to complete the trade is not so clear-cut. Will the Padres try to use this information to get something more from the Dodgers? Another player? More money? Under the original terms, the Dodgers were to eat $32 million of Kemp’s salary over the next five seasons. Tim Federowicz was also going to San Diego, and Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin were going to the Dodgers.
Remember too, the trade sending Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies to the Dodgers depends on the Kemp trade being approved. A lot of dominoes are waiting to fall, resting for the moment on a pair of arthritic hips.
Teams have 72 hours to do medical exams on potential trade candidates. Once that window is up — and it almost is with Matt Kemp — no more.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 18, 2014