Boston Red Sox: Will trading Mookie Betts doom the franchise?
By Sean Basile
Will trading Mookie Betts set the Boston Red Sox back for years to come or will it usher in a new era of Red Sox baseball? Let’s take a closer look.
In a move that was a long time coming, the Boston Red Sox finally decided to cut ties with Mookie Betts and trade him to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with David Price in return for outfielder Alex Verdugo and two prospects.
This was the second try at a Betts trade since the first one involving the Minnesota Twins fell through due to the Red Sox backing out after viewing incoming prospect, Brusdar Graterol‘s medical records.
The Twins were to send Graterol to Boston in a three-team trade that would also send Betts and Price to LA, Alex Verdugo to Boston, and pitcher, Kenta Maeda, to Minnesota. But that deal was cut down by the Red Sox.
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Now, the second try at this Betts trade is now straight-up with the Dodgers in an exchange of Betts and Price for Verdugo and prospects, Jeter Downs, and Connor Wong.
The biggest takeaway from all of this, however, is that Mookie Betts is no longer a member of the Boston Red Sox and that rightfully has the fans in an uproar.
After all, Betts was the best player on a Red Sox team that just won the 2018 World Series and had a great system in place for success throughout the next several years.
Unfortunately, the situation changed and not only did the Sox have to move on from Betts, they also lost their manager, Alex Cora, due to his involvement in the 2017 Houston Astros‘ sign-stealing scandal.
A once-prosperous Red Sox team with the world in front of them has now taken a step back and has to start from scratch.
This isn’t the worst thing, though. It may seem like the sky is falling in Boston right now, but the truth of the matter is Mookie’s contract was coming up after this season and he was looking at big money in upwards of $400 million.
We just saw Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout sign huge contracts this past offseason and none of them made the playoffs in 2019.
So, even though Mookie is one of the best players in baseball right now, was it really the smart thing to do to hold on to him if you’re the Red Sox? Probably not.
As tough a pill as it is to swallow as Boston Red Sox fans, I think the front office did the right thing here in pulling the plug because now they have a lot more room to work with. The Red Sox are now players in the 2021 free agency pool.