The Red Sox have officially announced a long-awaited swap to send superstar outfielder Mookie Betts and starter David Price to the Dodgers.
The Boston organization will pay down half of Price’s $96MM remaining contractual obligations. In return, the Sox will acquire outfielder Alex Verdugo, infield prospect Jeter Downs, and minor-league catcher Connor Wong.
New Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced the blockbuster, saying that “it’s reasonable to expect we’re going to be worse without” Betts and Price. (Alex Speier of the Boston Globe is among those covering the presser on Twitter.) That’s stating the obvious. At the same time, Bloom says he anticipates a competitive roster that can realistically compete.
So, why do the deal? Not long ago, Bloom says, he expected to keep Betts for 2020. But “teams stepped forward” with increased offers over the course of the offseason. The ultimate package achieved constitutes a “major step forward” for the Boston organization’s future, in Bloom’s view.
You may recall that an initial formulation of this deal included young righty Brusdar Graterol, with supposed health issues said to have scuttled that arrangement. Bloom didn’t talk about that directly, but did deny that fan reaction had any role in the implosion of the earlier trade structure. Graterol is now ticketed for the Dodgers in a separate but related swap.
The deal wasn’t just driven by the Red Sox’ desire to dip below the competitive balance tax line, Bloom said. In fact, as the Globe’s Peter Abraham characterizes his comments on Twitter, Bloom would’ve been open to dealing away the franchise cornerstone in the interest of long-term sustainability even had the club not needed to do so to reset their luxury obligations. That’s a notable and somewhat startling statement from the top baseball ops exec of one of the game’s blue-chip teams regarding his organization’s approach to competition and roster-building — particularly given that Bloom emphasized that he still sees this as a winning roster.
Tyson’s Pet Tiger
Red Sox finally announce an end to their week long temper tantrum.
Pedro Cerrano's Voodoo
Only tantrums are the ones being thrown here by ‘informed’ fans.
jorge78
Ouch!
Harwood
Oooh burn.
lfcredsox
aka due diligence in completing a trade for their best player
Psychguy
I’m shocked. Out of nowhere. When was this put into the works?
Daynlokki
Sunday
jorge78
Sarcasm alert!
Rallyshirt
Bigger news, Bulsinger sues Astros. Money goes to charity. Article please.
antibelt
Not sure who Bulsinger is, but Bolsinger is the one suing the Astros.
Rallyshirt
Thanks, man
snake120
Agreed!
DarkSide830
a single regular season game rarely ever ruins anyone’s career. lets not forget the guy had an ERA beyond 6 the previous year and entered the day with one over 5. oh, and he was probably ticketed for a stint in Japan anyway the next year – one he did pretty well in. one might might even argue it was better he was let go of as early as he was.
Rallyshirt
youtu.be/w8h6RKzij4M
neurogame
It’s probably better for baseball if Bolsinger sues. If the suit gets to the explorative stage, then another, more thorough, investigation will take place against the Astros and perhaps the organization won’t get off the hook as much as Manfred has allowed.
It could be a win-win. The Astros want this situation to fade into the background and a lawsuit won’t allow that. They could settle, paying Bolsinger off and paying the charities a partial sum of what the suit proposes instead of risk uncovering another sordid detail. If they choose not to settle and the suit gets to the exploratory stage, then another investigation might only underscore what a shoddy job MLB and the Commissioner have done with this issue.
mack22 2
The Dodgers better get busy they have 42 on a 40 man roster
Woodlawn
Pederson to Yanks. That’s 41
HalosHeavenJJ
So instead of a competitive balance pick when Betts left they get Verdugo, who is a first round level talent who has already gone through his minor league development and is MLB ready. Pretty solid.
Add in saving $48 million and the other prospects and I think Boston did well here.
possible donkey
I can say as a Dodger fan that I’m looking forward to seeing Mookie play everyday. But Boston fans should know how good Verdugo is. Flat out good. Certainly a fair trade for each side.
Ashtem
Also Downs and Wong
DarkSide830
agreed. hate the “you never win when trading away a star player” narrative. not paying the lux tax alone is big, and getting the extra payroll room and cheap talent is great too. id say this was actually a masterstroke.
lfcredsox
we shall see, not a fan of trading our best player, especially a guy like mookie he seems like a good guy to me, these young guys sound like they will be good so it could go either way, wo knows
pasha2k
Halo, you can’t judge a trade for a few yrs.
Ashtem
As a RS fan we can move on time for a new beginning
Vizionaire
there is still cheating investigation going on!
Eatdust666
Yeah, but Red Eye meant it because of LAB (Life After Betts).
PiratesFan1981
There is something ConnerWong about this trade.
g8752
This is such a smart move by Boston. John Henry did the right thing. Price was a clubhouse cancer and Betts wasn’t going to be in Boston in 2021. Getting 3 top young inexpensive players was a smart move for Boston and it’s a good move for LAD too as they step the favorite to win the WS in 2020.
imindless
3 top players? Downs was 86 out of 100 and wong wasnt even in top 20 of dodgers best prospect (3rd best catcher) Esentially red sox recieved an every day outfielder in the mold of melky caberra, an infielder who profiles as a 2nd baseman blocked by better players in lux and muncy. Downs hits for power but strikes out a lot and wong who is a back up catcher at best.
Salvi
Good move for both teams:
Red Sox Get;
– Under the Salary Cap
– 2 Young Studs, and a wildcard, to stock a very weak system
– Dont lose or drop down with anymore more draft picks
– Reset the CBT
Dodgers Get:
– 1 Year of a Superstar, chance to sign long-term
– A Good #2 or #3 pitcher (Price overpitched in 2018, and payed for it in 2019, he should bounce back to himself)
– Compensation Pick, if Betts walks
– Gave up quality players, but with their talent won’t hurt
baseball365
Please tell us who these three top young players are. The article reads Verdugo, Connor and Wong in the trade description. So I must have read over the top three young players in addition perhaps?
pasha2k
G8, from all I heard Price was loved in the clubhouse, a very good team mate. His problems were he didn’t like the Eck speaking truths during the games he was doing. The RS fans love Eck, n support him. Prices unprovoked verbal attacks on Eck forced Eck to not go on the planes to games. Just really bad.
ColoradoSox
Red Sox fans love Eck? None that I know of.
ColoradoSox
Red Sox fans love Eck? None that I know of.
lfcredsox
you don’t know the right ones then
SFBay314
@jeffTodd please put the image on all the full-size desktop web articles like you did on this one. Usually have to be mobile homepages to see the images.
baseball365
I’ve been totally out of check for a week now and with a fresh set of eyes, I can absolutely say…not a great deal all around for the Red Sox. It’s a trade they didn’t have to make and they didn’t really get much of value in return. Neither of the prospects are top 100 guys so that’ just filler and Verdugo is a really nice young player to have, but I mean you just traded a consensus top 3 position player in the MLB for a just starting up mid ceiling outfielder? And paid David Price to pitch in LA? And they passed on perhaps the highest upside player in Brusdar Graterol?
I ain’t got time for Red Sox mental gymnastics. I have to go to the gym now. Red Sox keeping it strange as always and stupid, plenty and plenty of stupid (inserts shoulder shrugging emoji here).
MoRivera 1999
“Red Sox keeping it strange as always and stupid, plenty and plenty of stupid”
What about all the success they’ve had the past 15 years?
lfcredsox
yeah, 4 WS in 15 years, so stupid, what are you smoking?, the Sox are only the most successful organization of the 2000s but they are clearly stupid and poorly run
hawkny11
Prediction: Alex Verdugo hits .320 with 40 hr and 125 rbi’s as member of the Boston Red Sox in 2020.. He is a super talent and will be playing half of his games in “smallish” Fenway Park. The dimensions of Fenway Park are suited to his swing, as a left handed batter. He won’t be targeting the Green Monster. Nor will he have difficulty cleaning the bull pen in right field.
baseball365
Pass the kool aid, I’m thirsty.
Trades 2nd best player in baseball for nothing and celebrates about “what could be”
Red Sox fans should do a collective Homer “DoH”
sf2win
2nd best? Who’s #1? (For the love of god, please don’t say, “Mike Trout”).
Bruin1012
I’m just asking because as a Red Sox fan don’t know a lot about Verdugo. Is his power pull power or opposite field power. I’m just asking because he is a lefty and Fenway is one of the toughest parks in baseball to hit it out to right field. I’m guessing he has pull power which won’t translate to home runs in Fenway but maybe I’m wrong maybe he hits his home runs to left and left center. I’m just saying on paper his power will not lead to more homer runs.
AtlSoxFan
Spray chart is your friend, take a peek for yourself:
fangraphs.com/players/alex-verdugo/17027/spray-cha…
IMO definitely a chance for some of those flyballs to LF to convert to hrs or doubles high of the monster. Likewise some of those line drives to leave some dents in the wall.
Bruin1012
The fly balls to right won’t go out as easily in Fenway.
AtlSoxFan
Then again, looking at the chart, not many did anyways.
The other interesting thing is the hang time on his hits.
To LF most balls were hit HIGH and hung 3-4.5 sec. On days the wind blows out that bodes well. The again when the wind blows in you’re hoping the 310′ wall helps you.
To RF most balls had a short 1.5 sec or so hang time out to deep RF. That means the line drives were sharp and low, which at least implies a shot at some ground rule double bounces if not caught. RF is big so it’s hard to cover must distance in 1.5 seconds.
Does it mean much? Not really until games are played. But it is something to watch for and gives us something to waste time contemplating in the offseason.
pasha2k
Ortiz used to pepper the wall hopefully he will learn that too. Mookie has a Fenway swing, nuff said.
NyyfaninLAA land
Verdugo has a profile similar to Benintendi but a bit better so far in basically 2/3 of a season in some key measures. Very similar spray chart, with a 10 % + difference towards GBs vs Fly balls in Verdugo’s profile. He does have a better hard hit rate last season, which wasn’t a great one for Benny. Also a 10% lower K rate.
So no likely HR explosion but he could do ok for doubles, though Benny hits more flys and has basically the same spray distribution, which is the classic lefty double approach off the Monster.
Bruin1012
I do really like Verdugo I reached out to some friends that watch him all the time and they say the Red Sox fans will eventually live him. One off my LA buddies said and I quote “He’s a enthusiastic energy guy! Good in the clubhouse. Solid size and tools. He should be a fan favorite …Dugie”. Most of my buddies say the same thing about him think he will fit in real well and is a really good player. I think most of us Boston fans don’t even really know a lot about Verdugo and how good he really is but one thing I know for sure he isn’t hitting 40 bombs if he he is a pull hitter in Boston.
trace
This is still on the front page?
Rallyshirt
YouTube just pulled the plug on Boston’s press conference.
TomL
Ok, can somebody tell me, does any one of these players realistically project to be an .850 OPS type of guy? Speedy Gold Glover with decent OBP?
clayram83
Both Verdugo and Downs are a good mix of those two archetypes. Verdugo definitely has 850 OPS ability, maybe as soon as next year. He’s not your speedy gold glover but he’s probably more mobile than most right-fielders and he’s got a cannon of an arm. Downs is more of a question mark but a .350 OBP with a .500 SLG is within his upside/ceiling, even if it’s closer to his ceiling than his floor. He’s probably more like your speedy gold glover guy even though I don’t think he gets to gold glove caliber on the field. Speed isn’t amazing but he has really good base running instincts. Top of the order speed/OBP ability if he pans out.
TomL
Thanks for the analysis! Are you an LA or BOS guy?
As a Cubs fan I’m in a similar boat regarding KB. So his career splits are right there (I think better than Rendon) has but he’s had two semi injury plagued years and suddenly he’s not worth anything.m on the market even with 2 years of reasonably priced control. His defense wasn’t even that bad until his injury years. Anyway I remember what we had to give up for Aroldis Chapman for just half of a year of team control and have to imagine KB or Betts could still hang around a net a decent return. I guess for Boston maybe the bigger impetus now was getting Price off the books and the off-field stuff.
clayram83
No problem. I’m in LA guy. And I think that KB’s still an extremely valuable player but it’s not unreasonable to predict that KB’s defense might not come back. He’s been injury plagued the last 2 years but he was more good than he was elite his first couple of years, and he’s a pretty big person. 6’5 and 230 pounds. I think he’s going to be able to bounce back defensively once he’s healthy because he’s very athletic for his size, but who knows? Knee issues can definitely sap your defensive ability, but plenty of big but still athletic players have lost their defense as they aged (Pujols).
His power numbers came back last year after shoulder problems in 2018, and he was a good base runner again last year so the offense is definitely going to command a nice return. But the difference between trading for Betts and Bryant, in my opinion, is that the best case scenario for Bryant is that he re-establishes himself as an above-average third baseman while Betts is one of the best at RF (and if not for Jackie Bradley Jr. would be at CF) in the game and there’s no reason to believe he won’t be going forward. That’s not a tiny difference when comparing a perennial Gold Glover and a guy who’s a question mark on defense at this point. Still, KB’s a really good player even with below-average defense and the Cubs probably want as much as Betts would command by himself, but projecting future production both at the plate AND in the field isn’t as easy of a sell at this point in time.
tiger68
Now Boston feels the DD effects like Detroit did. With no farm your main players become the sacrificial lambs to rebuild. Don’t worry it is not so lonely when you hit bottom.
pasha2k
DD did what he hafta do to win, farm systems suffer but you got a WS.
Jrmomo1000
Verdago Bradley and AB can’t spell LF name is a decent OF
jvent
Verdugo,Bradley and Benintendi will give the Red Sox a fast outfield.
Would the Dodgers and Mets matchup for a trade ?
Pederson and Ruiz for Dom Smith and Familia ?
jvent
Or Wacha
luckyh
I feel like they’re not done and we’ll see one more Sox trade.
Horace Fury
Agreed! Could be more than one. Still need a pitcher–Stripling for a couple of lower level Sox arms that could develop better in LA? Or FA flyers on Salazar, T. Walker, McHugh (if I’m thinking of the right person). There’s work to be done.
the.sophisticant
i bett on this trade. lol. no sirusly i think bett is a good bett for dogers. they are good teem as any and have the monee for more good player like betts. i herd that price is good to. he is young guy try to proove his chomps
User 589131137
Now when is the MLB handing out their punishment for cheating?????
Salvi
Has it been determined they cheated? Lets see what happens first.
30 Parks
… now trade JBJ.
notagain27
This trade was all about the Red Sox getting under the luxury tax. D.D. painted the club in a corner. When Henry made the comment last September about getting below the tax threshold. Henry simply spoke what was on his mind and spent all winter trying to tell Red Sox Nation that the tax implications really don’t matter. The tax implications even kept the mighty Yankees in check, and now it has done the same for the mighty Red Sox.
Just a fan
Mookie Betts looked good in that picture wearing a Dodger uniform.
sf2win
Will Betts’ numbers go down now that he no longer has Alex Cora in his corner?
AtlSoxFan
Surprising part to all these stories that you don’t hear how it’s been 100 years since Babe Ruth, the NYY, and No No Nanette.
Talk about repeating the past?
Anyone know if Henry has any plays underway? I don’t want to think about hearing the Mookie Curse for the rest of my lifetime.
CuddyFox
I am no expert, but how can the Dodgers make all these signings and deals and not be over the competitive balance tax line themselves? Is the MLB giving the Southern California teams a break and not have to worry about the tax line, or what?
Javia
LA has no $200 million contracts. They don’t sign anybody to long term contracts.
22222pete
Thats right, mostly. They pick up other teams expensive scraps, and sign their homegrown guys but don’t spend big in the FA market
GMB 883
Interesting comments. baseball365: I have no idea what your taking about. You say it’s a trade they didn’t have to make. That’s true but they would be fools if they could and didn’t. What good is it to keep Mookie only to lose him for a draft pick when some “winning starved owner” decides to pay him $400M + for 12 years at the end of this year in free agency. Secondly why keep David Price @ $31M per year at age 34 when he struggles to stay healthy and you have a WS winning starved team (LAD) who is willing to take him for 50% of the $ which oh by the way brings your team way under the $208 CBT tax and gives you an opportunity to reset. This trade is a “no brainer”in my mind. Verdugo and Downs are both first round picks. Who really knows how good they can be? The jury is out but the data on both suggest they have a chance to be good and potentially great players. They also could be busts. That’s life. As an example Mookie Betts was not even close to a first round pick. He was chosen on the 5th round the 172nd pick. Go figure so how do you know what Verdugo, Downs and Wong are capable of? With all due respect, I think I’ll go with Chaim Bloom’s assessment coming over from the TB Rays over your opinion.
gwell55
Besides that Mookie’s home / road ops splits for career 938/858 quite a difference there shows that Fenway was his best asset and the road split even with the small parks (with enough at bats) such as balt etc where he also killed it. has to kind of worry you when your going to have to play half your games in LA. That might actually help Boston to resign him next year for say 11 yrs at 35 after they can afford it with the reset. (remember mookie has said every year in the last 4-5 that he will go to Free Agency).
Flapjax55
Standing O!! Nailed it! Well done.
spitball
Mookie, thanks for all the memories, you will be missed! Good riddance to “Now I hold all the cards”
22222pete
I expect a big drop off in production from Betts away from friendly Fenway and 100 PA against Orioles pitching, as well as a league adjustment.
This could make him affordable as a FA next year and he may well end up back in Boston.
Maybe he rises to the occasion though. I guess we will see. However his only real monster year offensively was 2018, and that has an asterisk next to it.
All in all I think the Red Sox did pretty well to unload all this salary , like in 2012. That seems to be the Dodgers special role – taking on Red Sox excesses
Still have to deal with the Sale mistake though, but they can handle that. Maybe Sale bounces back but I think his best years are behind him.
If Eovaldi and Sale can bounce back a bit don’t write off the Red Sox. Yankees got the division locked up but get in as a WC and anything can happen
wileycoyote56
Seriously I wish all clubs would use some fiscal restraint, nobody is worth 25, 30, 50 million a year. We fans are the ones who pay these salaries in the end. Makes it tough to take your family to a few games anymore, and think how much advertising has raised prices on things we buy. It’s ridiculous at best
AL34
Henry has the money and should have paid Mookie period. Is he going to cut ticket prices for this inferior product him and his hatchet man Bloom put in the field? He picked up throwaways and garbage this season. No 4th or 5th starter, no bullpen help and an entire left handed hitting outfield that does not play to the ballpark you play in. Oh yeah no manager yet! But don’t worry Dustin Pedroia is going to try to come back again for the third year in a row! This team is a train wreck
$crewBaLL
But large market teams are suppose to retain there superstar players and buy more FA of the same caliper.. Did i miss something?
soylent pumpsie green
We got the wrong DiMaggio, the wrong Giambi, and now the wrong Jeter.
Flapjax55
It’s pretty amazing that folks on MLBTR wouldn’t see the rationale behind this trade. SMH. I’m a Red Sox fan for 40 years now, and I see why they needed to trade him. The argument that fans are paying for the product on the field is true but viewing it only for this years is short-sighted. You want you team to be competitive year after year. The Red Sox were not going to be. They were not going to climb over NYY and TB this year with Mookie. They had too many holes to fill and too little budget in terms of the CBT to fill them.
Casual fans need to simply realize that failure to reset the CBT means a lower quality product. Loss of draft picks is a big deal. The salary structure means you can only have a few top of the market players on the roster. That is by design. The billionaire owners aren’t stupid. And Red Sox fans can simply look to the other big market teams for validation that the CBT has to be reset. LAD and NYY have each done it.
The name of the game for teams is young controllable talent. Stars want to get paid but they will find fewer and fewer landing spots.
I love Mookie but not at 12/$420M. I doubt any team does that, so I think there’s a chance he’s back in Boston at a lesser but still huge price. That would be the best of both worlds for Boston.
wordonthestreet
Boston let the second best player in baseball in his prime get away. Period.
They should have built around him. Paid him in free agency.
You can spin it if you like but it was a bad move.
Bruin1012
The Red Sox had no chance of signing Mookie if they had remained above the CBT now there is a chance. I think Boston will be the highest bidder next next offseason if Mookie tests free agency. So if they really want him I think they can get him this offseason.
ColoradoSox
What are the chances of the Red Sox signing Mookie after 2020?
Knucksie
My hot take: Mookie will want everybody to think the odds are 1 in 30. Given the flexibility the Red Sox will have next year (as of right now), my guess is 1 in about 13. More than half the MLB teams will not seriously consider the possibility of Mookie Betts in their uniform simply due to cost.