Trading Mookie Was All About Money For Red Sox
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- If you're a Red Sox fan, you likely went to bed pretty darn upset Tuesday night. You probably felt the same way waking up Wednesday morning.
Keep that anger going.
The Red Sox have traded Mookie Betts, essentially crying poverty as the reason. John Henry tasked Chaim Bloom with fixing Dave Dombrowski's costly mess, which the Boston owner was happy to front when it meant a history World Series run in 2018. But now that the Red Sox were facing gigantic luxury tax fees and the potential loss of draft picks -- not to mention a hefty fine and likely loss of draft picks for a 2018 sign-stealing scandal -- it was time to save some bank and cut some payroll.
The Red Sox did just that, dealing away the face of the franchise and the second-best player in the game. They also shed David Price's cranky 'tude and the expensive three years remaining on his deal, though they're also paying the Dodgers nearly $50 million to rid themselves of that headache. At the cost of Betts and $50 mill, that's a pretty steep price to pay to get rid of David Price. But at least now they'll be able to pay an player that is not as good as Betts a truckload of cash in two years.
That Boston was able to land a pretty good outfielder in Alex Verdugo and a promising fireballer in Brusdar Graterol shouldn't be a distraction to what actually happened. The Red Sox didn't want to pay Betts what he felt he was worth, reportedly upwards of $420 million over 12 years, and they didn't want to pay the hefty fines that go with being a three-year luxury tax repeater. They'll try to sell fans on Betts not wanting to stay in Boston, pointing to the 10-year, $300 million contract he reportedly turned down two winters ago. The Red Sox would have taken Betts back, but at their price -- not his. So now they'll say they had to get something for this supreme baseball talent while they could.
They'll also urge you to go buy a 10-game ticket pack. It's not like they raised ticket prices that much this offseason.
Dealing a player like Betts should have been a way for the Red Sox to rebuild their farm system, which was left barren by Dombrowski's dealings. But because Price was also involved in the swap, the return was diminished. Verdugo will play every day for Boston, leaving them with just one pitching prospect from the swap. That will hardly replenish a farm system that ranks among the worst in baseball.
But it was never really about fixing the farm. The deal was about the money. It was always about the money.
It should have never come to this. When a team has a player of Betts' stature, a five-tool annual MVP candidate, it should do everything it can to make sure that when the time comes, it has the money and luxury tax space to keep him. The Red Sox didn't do that. Henry instead sat idly by as Dombrowski gave a damaged Chris Sale a five-year, $145 million contract -- which doesn't actually start until this season -- and Nathan Eovaldi's twice surgically repaired elbow a four-year, $68 million pact. If you're wondering why the Red Sox didn't have any money for Mookie, that's where it went. (It also didn't help when J.D. Martinez opted in this winter, but that was something else the Red Sox knew could happen this offseason.)
For a team that won the World Series two years ago, the Red Sox are a giant mess. They don't have a manager. They're awaiting their punishment for Alex Cora's sign-stealing ways in 2018. They just traded a potential Hall of Famer, all to save a couple billion pennies.
In trading Betts, the Red Sox waved the white flag on 2020. It simply would have been too expensive to compete. Maybe soon, fans will realize it's becoming too expensive to care.