Padres officially acquire Matt Kemp

Thursday night, a little more than a week after the Padres and Dodgers agreed to a trade featuring outfielder Matt Kemp, the teams completed the five-player deal, ending what had been a protracted and at times peculiar process.

The Padres received Kemp, catcher Tim Federowicz and $32 million to cover part of the remaining $107 on Kemp’s contract. In exchange, the Dodgers acquired catcher Yasmani Grandal, right-hander Joe Wieland and pitching prospect Zach Eflin, whom the Dodgers will flip to the Phillies in a deal for shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

Sources confirmed there was no change in the terms agreed upon at last week’s Winter Meetings -- this despite a USA Today report Thursday that Kemp’s physical exam revealed “severe arthritis in both hips” and could jeopardize the deal.

One source with knowledge of the deal said the Padres had extensive prior knowledge of Kemp’s medicals and described the aforementioned report as “totally overstated.” Either way, the Padres felt confident enough about the outfielder’s health to take on a long-term commitment.

Under first-year general manager A.J. Preller, the Padres have aggressively pursued talent rather than checked off positional needs. Kemp gives San Diego five outfielders under contract for 2015. Another starter could be announced Friday; the Padres on Wednesday agreed to acquire outfielder Wil Myers in a three-team, 11-player trade. Myers, the 2013 American League Rookie of the Year, is expected to start in left field, while Kemp would start in right.

The 30-year-old Kemp comes with upside commensurate with the risk. He finished second in National League MVP voting in 2011, but since 2012, he has undergone two surgeries and a major ankle operation while rating as a below-average defender. He also has suffered three hamstring strains. The Padres reportedly requested the Dodgers increase their monetary contribution but were rebuffed. However, a source close to the Dodgers said the Padres never asked for more money.

Kemp’s most recent performance likely encouraged the Padres’ gamble. After the All-Star break last season, he hit 17 home runs with a .606 slugging percentage, showing the kind of power the Padres have desperately needed. Over parts of nine seasons, all with the Dodgers, Kemp is a .292 hitter with 182 home runs and 648 RBIs. Even with the money going to San Diego, the five-year, $75 million commitment is easily the largest in franchise history.

After the Padres and Dodgers reached an agreement late on the night of Dec. 10, the deal was pending the approval of the commissioner’s office and physicals. Kemp, Grandal (ACL surgery) and Wieland (Tommy John surgery) have all undergone significant operations.

Kemp’s physical, however, was delayed until Tuesday because the outfielder had gone on a previously planned vacation to Las Vegas, returning early this week.

While it had been widely reported that the Padres and Dodgers faced a Thursday deadline to complete the five-player deal, sources said that was actually a soft deadline agreed to by the two teams, and one that could have been extended.

There was plenty of context behind the deal. Former Padres GM Josh Byrnes traded for Grandal in a five-player deal with the Reds three years ago. Byrnes, whom the Padres fired in June, was named the Dodgers' senior vice president of baseball operations in November.

Logan White, the Padres' professional scouting director, went the other direction. Previously the Dodgers' scouting director, White drafted Kemp in the sixth round in 2003. White, who worked with Preller when the latter was a baseball-operations assistant for the Dodgers, joined the Padres in October.