I was caught totally off guard when it happened. The first clue I had that a trade had been done was a Discord DM from a friend of mine talking about how cheap the Red Sox are. See, that wouldn't normally mean much, except said friend isn't much of a baseball fan. Something had to be up. I open up Twitter and I am greeted with Photoshops of Mookie Betts wearing a Dodgers uniform. How did we get here? The Padres were the first team linked in Betts rumors. The Dodgers popped up later. I figured the rumors would die until maybe the trade deadline if the wheels fell off. A trade now didn't seem plausible. Surely the Red Sox know how good Mookie Betts is. He's a top ten offensive player in the MLB. No trade package you get back is going to recoup the loss from letting Betts go somewhere else. They can't shed a transcendent talent for "financial flexibility." They can't do it. But they did it. Mookie Betts goes to the Dodgers along with David Price. The Red Sox receive Alex Verdugo from the Dodgers. Later it's announced that the Dodgers traded Kenta Maeda to the Minnesota Twins, who ship top pitching prospect Brusdal Graterol to Boston. Let's analyze the fallout. Los Angeles DodgersMookie Betts and Cody Bellinger are now in the same outfield. Need I say more? Alright, I will. David Price was tacked on as another large contract for Boston to get rid of, and Price will function as an effective third starter behind Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw. He's coasted on reputation lately, and was never truly excellent in Beantown, but he can still offer value to a team at a bit of a premium price tag. Even if Price doesn't live up to the billing, it may not matter. Refer back to that first sentence. It's terrifying. I'm absolutely terrified of the Dodgers this time. We can't mistake them for being immortal, as prior doomed playoff runs for LA have shown us. But even if this dynamic duo of Betts and Bellinger are only together in the outfield for a single season, the Dodgers won the trade. Mookie Betts has a staggering 42 wins above replacement at age 27. It's not Mike Trout level, but it's easily first ballot trajectory. He is absurdly good at everything. One-time MVP. Four-time All Star. Four-time Gold Glove winner. Three-time Silver Slugger. The Dodgers saw the Yankees get Gerrit Cole and knew that their offseason would be a total failure without an earth shattering move. They got it. Two players depart Los Angeles to new locales as a result of this deal. Alex Verdugo, a talented young outfielder who stands as yet another triumph of the Dodgers' prospect development, heads to Boston. Obviously, you don't need a guy like Verdugo too much when you have two MVPs in the outfield. Kenta Maeda, a reliable and consistent innings-eater who found himself in a tweener role as a spot starter and reliever before injuries put in him in the rotation for good, will go to Minnesota and continue on a full-time starting role. Both players were just shipped off to clear space for the shiny new arrivals. It's just about the perfect trade for the Dodgers, and if they can convince Mookie to stay... Do I even want to think about it? Minnesota TwinsA surprising third wheel in this trade, the Minnesota Twins popped their heads in the door right as the party started and joined in on the fun. Looking up to shore up rotational depth, the biggest weakness for Minnesota heading into the year, they acquired Kenta Maeda from the Dodgers. Maeda isn't flashy, but he is an expert in mitigating hard contact and has sexy advanced stats. He's a fantastic value pickup for the Twins, immediately improves them, and keeps them from having to rely too much on veteran arms Rich Hill and Homer Bailey. The player they dealt to Boston, Brusdar Graterol, is an intriguing piece for the Red Sox' bullpen. I'll talk more on him later. Despite the intrigue, dealing Graterol makes a lot of sense for Minnesota. They already have a top bullpen in the AL, and even though Graterol is a very well-regarded prospect, that's part of what you keep prospects for--these trades. That's something Minnesota didn't seem to understand too well in recent years. It's a gamble, but if you're in win-now mode, you have to make these tough decisions. The Twins managed to leverage a strength of theirs in relief pitching to address a weakness in starting pitching. There's little to complain about here in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. Boston Red SoxYep, it's time to simultaneously laugh and scream at Boston. As much as I relish the Red Sox' complete and utter destruction by their own hand, I just can't get over the cowardice this move represents. The Red Sox are really good at signing free agents or trading for established players that carry them over the top, but when it comes time to pay their homegrown stars their due, this nonsense tends to occur. It cannot be overstated that no return can justify trading away Mookie Betts. Certainly not a single outfielder and a single reliever. How can the Boston Red Sox, just over a calendar year removed from a World Series victory, cry poor at a time like this? A team that eagerly handed gigantic paychecks to Rusney Castillo, Pablo Sandoval, Price, and Chris Sale can't bear to keep their face of the franchise, one of the faces of the sport, around. It's infuriating, but also absolutely hilarious and exactly what Boston deserves, if you believe in that sort of thing. This thing can kill a rivalry, too. Part of my frustration as a Yankees fan comes from knowing that the Betts-Judge rivalry is over after three short years. And of course, Betts has a ring to show for it. Judge doesn't yet, and if he does, he won't have to get past Boston to do it. I want to get past Boston. I wanted us to beat Betts and the Red Sox, not by watching them slip to 4th in the standings, but by beating them fair and square in the playoffs. The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was back in 2018 but cooled off last year as the Red Sox regressed. If the Red Sox kept everyone around, there was no reason to believe they couldn't come back and vie for playoff contention. They're friggin' Boston, they find a way. Nope. They just couldn't afford to do it. Remember. Baseball doesn't have a salary cap. They have a luxury tax, but no cap. And yet baseball owners are the cheapest in North American sports. They're the most averse to paying talent what they're worth. This garbage is yet another case study. When this happens, the general manager is always put in an impossible situation from a negotiation standpoint. Chaim Bloom, the young and exciting protégé of the Rays' brain trust, was completely helpless to the whims of an owner who just didn't want to pay his best player anymore. His only recourse was to try to take some gambles on young raw talent who still won't make up for the value lost. That said, let's take a look at said raw talent. Alex Verdugo had an impressive rookie campaign, compiling an .817 OPS in 377 plate appearances. He competed for playing time with the likes of A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor, and Joc Pederson. That won't be the case in Boston. He'll be thrust into the role of Mookie Betts' successor/replacement. That is a heavy mantle to assume. A starting role should be good for him, but is this the role he wants? Boston's fans will put all their hope into him becoming a star, and in times where he doesn't perform, it will be hard. If he flourishes, great for him. But the Red Sox never had to be in this situation in the first place if they just paid Mookie his money. Brusdar Graterol is the unknown in this deal. Luckily for me, I'm well aware of this man's toolkit because A) I watched some Twins games in September and B) I follow Pitching Ninja on Twitter. Graterol, if he pans out, is gonna be on Pitching Ninja's list for years and years. The sinker is not a popular pitch in today's MLB, but you can tell Graterol's sinker is special on sight. It averages 99 mph and has wicked movement. In a limited sample size up with the big club, it was unhittable. Batters managed a measly .190 xwOBA against the pitch. It probably isn't that good, but if he's the real deal--and I think he's MLB-ready now--he could be the low-cost closer the Red Sox have been looking for ever since Kimbrel departed. Shame he won't have the bat of Mookie Betts to give him more chances to close games. The news isn't over.
The Dodgers made another deal on the same day that was completely overshadowed by the Betts trade, and understandably so. It's still an intriguing deal if just for the fact that it was between the Dodgers and the Angels. I'll get to it either later on this week or on Saturday. I'll also take a closer look at what the Angels have got percolating. For now, though, that's today's post! Mookie Betts in a Dodgers uniform. I'll have to see it to believe it. Good thing Opening Day is 50 DAYS AWAY. I'M READY! COME ON! LET'S GO!
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About MeI'm Jeremy, and I like baseball. Watching it and writing about it mainly. This is where the latter goes. My other hobbies include video games, singing, biking, and slacking off. I live in New Jersey and go to school at Goucher College in Baltimore. That's me on TV! If you want a better look, check out this video. Watch the stands on Kyle Lewis' home run very closely. Look for the skinny guy with the Yankees hat.
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