Markus Lynn Betts or otherwise known as Mookie has been traded along with David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Red Sox in return will acquire Alex Verdugo and Brusdar Graterol. The Twins sending Brusder to the Red Sox while the Dodgers will send Kenta Maeda to Minnesota. Side note: I wrote this whole blog thinking that the Red Sox were getting Jeter Downs. Now I’m pissed. If the Sox would have gotten Downs I would have said – My initial takeaway to this trade is that it appears to be a win-win for both sides. Much like the Anthony Davis trade between the Lakers and Pelicans, both teams accomplished what they wanted.
Good for the Dodgers. I have been critical of Andrew Friedman for never going for it. Despite having a great farm system and pretty good roster, Friedman has never pushed his chips to the center to go win it. Well, now he did. I’m proud of him. When you have a chance to win the World Series, you should do everything in your power to win it. Shame on you for not doing that. Andrew Friedman FINALLY pushed his chips in the center. He just acquired Mookie Betts.
The Dodgers now have their answer to Mike Trout. While the Dodgers are the much better team, Mike Trout is the star in town. Not so much anymore. Mookie has way more swag than Trout could ever dream of having. The Dodgers have all the star power they could ask for now. Mookie Betts is the most charismatic player in the sport.
I’ll mostly be writing this from a Red Sox perspective here. This one hits home for me more. I love Mookie Betts. This is a lot easier to handle than it would be if Xander Bogaerts or Raffy Devers got moved. I’ll say if I were an Angels fan, I would advocate for trading Mike Trout. At the end of the day, I think this was now the right thing to do. I don’t believe in handing out $400 million contracts. This also doesn’t mean they can’t sign him in the upcoming offseason.
I think this became an easy decision for Chaim Bloom. The moment Alex Cora got canned, the thought of winning the World Series this year went right out the window. The Sox only controlled Betts for one more year. They also had payroll restraints from Dave Dombrowski wrecking the roster. If they lost Mookie in the following offseason, they would only collect a 5th round comp pick. Moving Betts also gave the Red Sox a way to escape from some of the David Price money. Add it all together, and Boston had no choice but to take this offer from LA. I’ll reiterate that they did not get enough.
At the end of the day, Mookie Betts was an expensive rental. A rental that was going to cash in on a $400 million contract in the offseason. PS: There’s no saying the Red Sox can’t sign him in the offseason. The Yankees did it with Aroldis Chapman and snagged Gleyber Torres out of it. There is no saying Boston can’t sign him. Mookie is going to the highest bidder. If he were willing to take a hometown discount, he would have signed an extension after the Red Sox offered him one (which happened numerous times).
A perfect storm also brewed here for the Red Sox. The Dodgers and Padres engaged in a bidding war for Betts. Same division and prospect base. Garnering more than one suitor is what really got the Sox the return they were looking for. When the Dodgers and Padres became more aggressive, it sparked a deal.
Alex Verdugo is a good first get. If you want to compare him to the Brandon Ingram of the trade, I think that’s fair. In 106 games this year with LA, Verdugo was a 3.1 WAR player. Not bad for it being his first full year in the bigs. Verdugo can hit and brings a left handed stick that is lethal at the dish. In 2019, Verdugo put together a stat line of .294/.342/.475 with an OPS+ of 114. If Verdugo never improves upon that and continues that level of production, he is a good first buy. Obviously, there’s a good chance he gets better from his rookie year too.
Another side note: I wrote two paragraphs about Jeter Downs. I’m not deleting them. Chaim Bloom messed up by not grabbing Downs.
Jeter Downs is the player I’m the most excited about. It will be fun to rub in the faces of Yankee fans that we have a Jeter too and yours is washed up. The Dodgers stole Downs from the Reds in that ridiculous Homer Bailey salary dump. He’s the former 32nd pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. Downs has risen up prospect boards and is inside the top 100.
Downs looks like the real deal. He hit .333 in AA. Small sample size but finished the 2019 season at .276/.362/.526 in the minors. He’s also the younger brother of former Sox farmhand, Jerry Downs. He feels like a potential stalwart at 2nd base for years to come as the Sox have been desperate to find that Dustin Pedroia replacement. I think Jeter Downs has serious potential. All-Star caliber infielder.
I would have preferred a higher upside arm than Graterol. He didn’t have a ton of success with the Twins in his first year in the bigs. 4.66 ERA in 10 outings. The reports are that he has easy gas and hits 100 MPH no problem. Then again, seems like a lot of guys do.
I’m a big believer in history repeating itself. Back in 2012, the Red Sox sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers in a big salary dump. They won the World Series a year later. It was the right move for the Red Sox that needed to reset their payroll and get back on track. I think this deal isn’t quite the same but it feels similar.
At the end of the day, you can’t replace Mookie Betts. He’s walking surplus value. There is no denying that. It doesn’t mean the Sox can’t win the trade. Alex Verdugo could become an All-Star making pennies. Same for Jeter Downs (if they were actually getting him). It’s better than getting nothing for him after the season. Not getting Jeter Downs will be something I will not get over.
