The most important aspect of the trade
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Now, let’s get to what I believe was a very important aspect in order for this blockbuster deal to be completed: The Boston Red Sox saving money and gaining a ton of payroll flexibility.
As I mentioned Mookie Betts will be paid $27 million in 2020 along with David Price being paid $96 million over the course of the next three seasons before he hits free agency–Boston eats half of that. So, they will be sending $48 million to the Dodgers as a part of the trade.
The Red Sox will then take on Verdugo’s contract which is a mere $583,500 for the 2020 season.
According to Ken Rosenthal, that all adds up to Chaim Bloom and the Boston Red Sox saving a total of $40-50 million and getting well under the luxury tax threshold (only counting Betts/Price’s 2020 salaries).
In total, Boston will save more than $74 million when you take into affect Betts’ 2020 salary and $48 million of David Price’s salary that they would’ve had to pay over the next three seasons.
In addition to getting under the $208 million threshold, the Red Sox also are going to have the ability to reset the luxury tax penalty to the minimum, which is 20% for every dollar spent.
Another win for the Red Sox is by working out a deal with the Dodgers and Twins means they weren’t cornered into a deal with the Padres. Why is that significant?
Because a deal with the Friars would’ve likely included Wil Myers. He is earning $61 million for the remainder of his contract with San Diego, and he is not worth the $20 million AAV he is making.
Last season he struck out 34% of the time, which is a career-high. According to Fan Graph’s dollar metric (a tool that converts WAR to a dollar scale based on what a player would earn in free agency), Wil Myers was only worth $4.2 million in 2019 which is just over a quarter of his salary last season.
But take out the contract–I am more than sure that trading Mookie Betts (a top-5 player in baseball) in favor of Wil Myers would not have gone over well with Boston Red Sox fans.
So, with all of this said, it was evident Mookie Betts and David Price needed to be traded and Chaim Bloom turned it into five years of Alex Verdugo, a top pitching prospect in Brusdar Gaterol, and saved over $40 million while he was at it.
Yes, he passed the test.