Fansided

Trading Price/Eovaldi, Keeping Betts should be on the wish list

By Ben Fadden |
BOSTON - APRIL 5: Helena Akhtar, left, and Gabrielle Onofrio carry cutouts of Mookie Betts and David Price while promoting ALT 92.9 radio outside Fenway Park before the start of the game. The Boston Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays in their home opener for the 2018 MLB season at Fenway Park in Boston on April 5, 2018. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - APRIL 5: Helena Akhtar, left, and Gabrielle Onofrio carry cutouts of Mookie Betts and David Price while promoting ALT 92.9 radio outside Fenway Park before the start of the game. The Boston Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays in their home opener for the 2018 MLB season at Fenway Park in Boston on April 5, 2018. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Christmas Day is filled with presents and gifts so here is what is on Chaim Bloom and the Boston Red Sox’s Christmas wish list.

The Boston Red Sox enter the holidays with their team largely intact, which includes some of their biggest assets. Those assets might be more likely to be shipped off to other teams after the New York Yankees signed Gerrit Cole to fill the one major hole that they had on their roster.

So, what will Boston do with their assets? Let’s get to the Boston Red Sox’s 2019 Christmas wish list:

Offload big contracts from the rotation

The Boston Red Sox are trying to get under the luxury tax threshold, and while there has been some talk about getting rid of their right fielder–which I will get to–an alternative route is to trade one of their starters.

Chris Sale seems like he is the only safe starter to not be moved with Nathan Eovaldi and David Price as the two starters that could be moved.

Eovaldi was given a contract that he might not have earned but was given to him by Dave Dombrowski because he helped win them a championship in 2018. He will be getting paid $17 million in each of the next three seasons, and it is not hard to realize that he has not pitched to that level since he signed the contract.

But what could help the Red Sox find a suitor is if a team sees him as a bounceback candidate and they believe that he still can pitch to the 2018 level they saw in the World Series. Starting pitchers are getting money thrown at them, shoot Hyun-Jin Ryu just got $80 million from the Blue Jays when he has only thrown 160 innings in one of the last five seasons.

So, the Red Sox could use his lighter contract to lure teams to make a deal, especially if the Red Sox includes a prospect with Eovaldi to sweeten the deal.

Moving on to David Price, I think he would be easier to trade then Eovaldi despite him being paid much more annually.

Price still has a base salary of $96 million over the next three seasons, but he is not as injury-riddled as Eovaldi is. I think teams would be more willing to get Price even if they have to pay him more because they pretty much know what they are going to get.

Trading Price would not be hated among the fan base while trading the next player I am going to be talking about would not make Chaim Bloom a fan favorite in Boston.

(Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

Don’t trade Mookie Betts

Yes, Red Sox fans. Your team’s Christmas wish list should include not trading Mookie Betts. While many people around the game immediately go to Mookie Betts when the club talks about lowering their payroll, they should do the exact opposite.

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Betts is one of the best players in all of the game, and he is on the level just below Mike Trout. He nearly hit .300 in 2019 with 29 home runs and it was considered a down year for him.

I don’t think people that bring up Betts’ name in trade talks really think about what would happen if he was moved.

  1. They would immediately become non-contenders
  2. The fan base would not believe in the team in 2020
  3. There would be no chance that Betts signs back with the club in Free Agency

If Betts is moved, then that messes with the entire flow of the team. Betts is their leadoff hitter and if he was moved then they would also have another hole in the outfield. Yes, J.D. Martinez can play the outfield but he is not a Gold Glove right fielder like Betts is.

If Betts was moved, imagine how the fan base would feel towards Chaim Bloom. If his first major move was to move the 2018 AL MVP, it would totally turn the fans away, not to mention how the clubhouse would feel.

It is already bad enough for Red Sox fans that Gerrit Cole walked into Yankee Stadium and signed his name on a contract worth $324 million to be their ace.

And finally, there would be zero chance in my mind that Betts would come back in free agency. I know that he is not interested in an extension because he wants to go get his money in the open market, but if they traded him then it would tell Betts that he is not wanted in Boston.

In free agency, usually, the player gives the team he is leaving the last call when they are about to sign a deal and I don’t see why Betts wouldn’t do the same with the Red Sox–if they keep him.

Next. Mets a potential landing spot for Nolan Arenado. dark

If I were the Red Sox, I would go into the season with Mookie Betts and see where I am near the deadline in terms of if they are contending and then if not you could get a team that is desperate to get him like the Los Angeles Dodgers were for Manny Machado in 2018.

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