Dodgers: An intriguing Betts trade scenario that benefits both sides

The Los Angeles Dodgers have recently “engaged in exploratory talks” on a Mookie Betts trade, so I created this scenario that would actually work.

Mookie Betts has been in trade talks all offseason including with the Los Angeles Dodgers because the Red Sox have said they want to lower the payroll, and Betts would be paid around a base salary of $27.7 million in his final year with the Red Sox.

Betts is one of the best in the game, so teams aren’t going to be able to give Chaim Bloom players that won’t be impact players either immediately or in the very near future.

In my opinion, the Red Sox are contending for a Wild Card in 2020, as teams in their division have only gotten better. The New York Yankees are poised to be in the World Series next October after adding Gerrit Cole, and the Tampa Bay Rays added big power bats in Hunter Renfroe and Yoshitomo Tsutsogo. Even the Toronto Blue Jays have added to their starting rotation.

With the Red Sox’s chances of winning the division getting slimmer as the winter goes on, they have a very important question to answer: Will they trade Mookie Betts?

There are many different avenues that Boston could take, but I will be exploring the trade avenue because this is where the Red Sox can add the most value to their organization.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are never afraid to be in talks for big stars, so I have made a trade scenario that would work between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox involving Mookie Betts…

Boston Red Sox acquire:

• Ross Stripling
• Tony Gonsolin
• A.J. Pollock

Los Angeles Dodgers acquire:

• Mookie Betts

This trade is one that fits for both the Red Sox and the Dodgers. Let’s start with the Red Sox side of things.

Chaim Bloom was not brought in to just keep the roster the way it is. No, he came in to restructure and re-imagine it, and I think that he and the organization would benefit from gaining three attractable players.

Ross Stripling is a pitcher who hasn’t really gotten a full chance to show what he has got with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Stripling has only pitched in 65 games over the span of the last two years while relievers on his team like Kenley Jansen–who has struggled in the regular season in the last two seasons–has appeared in 131 games.

Some people don’t remember this but he was an All-Star in 2018, so he has the ability to really impact the Red Sox bullpen, who struggled last season.

Tony Gonsolin, 25, is another reliever that has the potential to be an impact pitcher out of the bullpen. Although it is a small amount of work, Gonsolin pitched to a 2.93 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 40 innings of work. And I think Chaim Bloom would be able to trade for Gonsolin because he isn’t going to get many chances in the Dodgers bullpen, which includes the likes of Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, and now Blake Treinen.

A.J. Pollock is another key piece of the trade, and I understand why some Boston fans wouldn’t want to take on his contract. But he is going to get paid a base contract of $12 million, which is almost half of what Mookie Betts would be paid in 2020, which saves Boston at least $15 million.

And while Boston will likely lose Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. is going to be a free agent after 2020 and there’s no guarantee he is going to stay which would leave two holes in the outfield if they didn’t get back an outfielder like Pollock in a trade.

While the Red Sox would lose Betts, they would be getting back more value in a trade with Los Angeles than they would if they let Betts walk away (a compensation pick).