LOS ANGELES — The last time the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox pulled off a blockbuster trade it led to a World Series title – for the Red Sox. They used the payroll relief gained by sending Adrian Gonzalez, Nick Punto, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Dodgers in August of 2012 to build a championship team in 2013.
This time around, the Dodgers hope they are the beneficiaries.
After shopping for “top of the roster” additions all winter (the phrase used by Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman), the Dodgers have landed an elite player they hope will push them over the top and lead to their first World Series title since 1988.
According to multiple reports, the Dodgers are set to acquire outfielder Mookie Betts and left-hander David Price in a three-team trade that also includes the Minnesota Twins. The Dodgers are reportedly sending second-year outfielder Alex Verdugo to the Red Sox in the trade and right-hander Kenta Maeda to the Minnesota Twins. Pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol is reportedly going from the Twins to the Dodgers in exchange for Maeda and then on to the Red Sox.
The Dodgers have been steadfast in refusing to include right-hander Dustin May and infielder Gavin Lux in any trade this winter and appear to be pulling off the addition of Betts without giving up either player.
However, outfielder Joc Pederson is reportedly going to the Angels in exchange for infielder Luis Rengifo (ESPN reported there will be more players involved in that trade when finalized). Pederson is set to make at least $7.75 million in 2020 (the Dodgers’ offer submitted for arbitration) and as much as $9.5 million (Pederson’s number). Trading him and getting the Red Sox to assume a large portion of Price’s salary could allow the Dodgers to stay under the competitive-balance tax threshold for a third consecutive season, though it costs the Dodgers a player who hit 61 home runs with an .861 OPS over the past two seasons.
But acquiring Betts means the Dodgers, who have won seven consecutive NL West titles and appeared in two of the past three World Series, will go to spring training with two MVPs set to start in their outfield – the reigning National League MVP in Cody Bellinger, 24, and the 2018 American League MVP in Betts, 27.
Betts also has four consecutive All-Star appearances and four consecutive Gold Glove awards. Over the past four seasons, Betts has batted .305 with a .917 OPS, 98 stolen bases and 116 home runs, and his 33.8 wins above replacement (WAR) is second in MLB to only the Angels’ Mike Trout. Defensively, Betts leads all of MLB with 98 defensive runs saved (DRS) since 2016.
A week before pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch, the Dodgers have added Betts to a team that led the NL in slugging and home runs and finished second in on-base percentage in 2019 and boasted a defense that led the majors in defensive runs saved while winning 106 regular-season games.
The Red Sox and Betts agreed on a one-year contract for 2020 at $27 million, a record for an arbitration-eligible player. With no traction on a long-term extension, Betts can become a free agent next winter and the Red Sox moved Betts now rather than risk losing him for a draft pick next winter.
The Dodgers will undoubtedly try to lock up Betts long term, but that is likely to be a costly proposition. Betts is expected to seek a contract worth more than the 10-year, $300 million the Red Sox offered last month. Betts’ representatives reportedly countered at $420 million over 12 years – a total just short of Mike Trout’s 12-year, $430 million extension with the Angels.
In order to add Betts to their lineup, though, the Dodgers had to accept Price and reportedly assume half of the $96 million his contract calls for over the next three years.
At 34, Price’s best days are behind him and a troublesome elbow has limited him to 63 starts over the past three seasons and his ERA and WHIP jumped to 4.28 and 1.31 last season (his highest since his rookie season). He still had 128 strikeouts in 107-1/3 innings last season and is only about 15 months removed from having dominated the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series.
A healthy Price, who has a Cy Young Award and five All-Star appearances on his résumé, would replace Maeda as the Dodgers’ third starter behind three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, 31, and 25-year-old ace Walker Buehler. Since joining the Dodgers in 2016, Maeda, 31, has started more games (103) than any other Dodgers pitcher (Kershaw has started 102 in that time). Annually moved to the bullpen, Maeda was 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA as a Dodger.
After an extended apprenticeship in Triple-A, the 23-year-old Verdugo finally broke in as a full-time major-leaguer last season and batted .294 with an .817 OPS in 106 games. An unspecified back injury ended his season in early August, however, and Verdugo recently said he was still rehabbing that injury, preventing him from including any baseball activities as part of his offseason workouts.
For most of the winter, the Dodgers had been quiet, watching top free agents Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg sign elsewhere. The Dodgers’ lone free-agent signings this winter have been one-year deals for reliever Blake Treinen ($10 million) and starters Alex Wood ($4 million) and Jimmy Nelson ($1 million).
San Diego looked to keep the Dodgers from making a big acquisition, hoping Boston would take one of its offers, which reportedly were centered around top catching prospect Luis Campusano and major league players.
The deal makes sense for the Red Sox only in the complicated economics of baseball’s CBT, which penalizes a team for spending over a preset limit – $208 million for 2020. What’s more, a ballclub that surpasses the threshold in three straight years pays a top rate of 95%; on the other hand, if a team goes under the limit for a season, the penalty for their next violation resets to the lowest rate of 20%.
This deal is expected to get Boston below that threshold.
Red Sox owner John Henry said in September, after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015, that the Red Sox “need to be under the CBT.” Team president Sam Kennedy later walked back the comments and said that was “a goal but not a mandate.” After he was hired, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said: “The goal remains to be competitive always. 2020 is important. So are 2021, 2022 and beyond.”
As of Tuesday night, the trades were still pending medical reviews.
News services contributed to this story.
Is the potential arrival of Mookie Betts the piece the Dodgers need for a World Series breakthrough?
L.A. has the 3rd-longest division titles streak since divisions came into existence in 1969, but has appeared in just 2 World Series in that span (losing both). pic.twitter.com/dCazM8JLf8
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 5, 2020