Padres and Red Sox discussing Mookie Betts
Credit: USA Today Sports
A possible Mookie Betts trade is being discussed by the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox.
In stunning news, Dennis Lin of the Athletic reports, on Thursday, that the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres have discussed a trade that involves star outfielder Mookie Betts. The teams are in discussions and nothing is close.
The Padres seem very focused on improving their team for the 2020 season. An addition of Betts, a four-time All-Star, could potentially put the team over the edge. The outfielder would improve the Padres’ defense as well as the heart of the batting order.
Betts is a former MVP and is currently in the last year of his contract. The price tag would be hefty, but the Padres certainly have the means to pay. There is some speculation that the Padres could package multiple young players to Boston to get a deal done. The Padres have a full 40-man roster currently and could use some flexibility in that regard.
A Betts deal could lead to a more extensive trade between these two teams. David Price could also be of interest to the Padres as they search for starting pitching as well. This is pure speculation, though, as Price comes with a hefty contract and health issues. Wil Myers is mentioned in the article by Dennis Lin, as the Padres are actively looking for suitors for the outfielder.
Betts owns a career .893 OPS and, at 27 years of age, is in the highlight of his career. He has amassed a 42 WAR in six major league seasons.
Preller and the Red Sox have worked together before on trades. There is certainly a possibility of a deal here and it seems that Boston has forgiven San Diego for the Drew Pomeranz trade in 2016, which saw Preller earn a 30-day suspension over his handling of medical documents.
The Padres and Red Sox have discussed a potential trade that would bring Mookie Betts to San Diego, sources tell The Athletic: https://t.co/Mn5be5SwlM
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) January 24, 2020
Padres’ ownership is hell-bent on competing sooner rather than later. A “win-now” move such as this only serves to solidify that fact.
2020 could be a very interesting year for both the Padres and the city of San Diego.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
No one seems to be taking Boston’s desperation to get under the tax. They aren’t in the drivers seat as many of you might think they are. I would not take on Price… period! There’s too much dead money as he falls apart. That could handicap our payroll for the next three years.
Including Myers is necessary for us to offset the MB payroll increase. They’d still be decreasing their payroll while receiving some prospects from us. We still have a logjam in the outfield. So, I propose Myers, Margot, Morejon, and two prospects in the 20-40 range. Besides reducing their payroll and getting under the tax threshold, they get a starting first baseman with bounce back upside, a starting center fielder who might need the change of scenery, a pitcher who can be a backend starter, and two prospects with decent upside.
Padres get a good CF with one year of a payroll hike. They reduce that by 20M each of the two following years by moving Myers. Payroll space when we will likely be in a better place to contend. We may need that to add a piece or two.
Some perspective: in July of 2018 the Orioles got 5 prospects from the Dodgers, one of their top 5, two of their top 30, and two lesser prospects (if memory serves). Betts is a better player, is signed for an entire year, not the partial year with Machado, so Boston will want a better package just for Betts. If they have to take an overpaid player in Myers Boston will want just that much more. Any deal will have to include a top 5, and 2 top 30s as a starting point. Remember too that Boston still has some hopes to compete in 2020, whereas Baltimore was in full rebuild mode.
The way to evaluate such a trade proposal is how many wins do you think the team needs to add to make the wild card? If you think the club is an 84 win team right now, adding Betts might well add 6 wins over CF at the moment. 90 wins put them right there. If you think they’re a 78 win team, then adding Betts is not a difference maker.
But how about this? Make the trade and give up a top 5, two top 30s, and two top 50s. Then if at the trade deadline the team is not in the thick of it, turn around and trade Betts for what Baltimore got for Machado. This would net out as adding half a year of Betts, and losing two 50 prospects, and moving all of the Myers contract.
They were in a pennant race at the trade deadline. The Padres are not. We still might not get a sniff at even a wildcard, let alone the Dodgers. We don’t need Betts to finish below the Dodgers still. Patience with a better team already this year is needed. We cannot hamstring ourselves for a few more wins. I’d rather be prominent for awhile than a thought for this season.
The Redsox have to get under the luxury tax. They are desperate too. I fear AJ will blink first in this stare down, he always does. He needs to show integrity and patience and not dismantle our farm. Worst case scenario… we are better than last year and will have more wins. Let’s see what happens and let the boys get the experience they need. We’ll be competitive and that should save AJ (unfortunately). AJ needs to run the farm system and leave the heavy lifting to the big boys.
Yes, remember there was NO ONE bidding on Hosmer. His own team only gave a slight nod to being interested. EVERYONE knew who Hosmer was, his lack of value, etc…except AJ. He could not get great value even when he had ALL of the leverage.
Now Preller is not only desperate and incompetent, his job is on the line, and everyone else knows. I agree, there is a level of desperation on the BoSox’s part, but that matters not when it comes to Preller the Padre killer.
Trading for one year of Betts is like selling your house so that you can have a 3 week splurge in the Bahamas. That’s great, but now you burnt your savings, and have no where to live. That is what Preller is on the precipice of doing at the moment to all Padre fans.
The impending punishment make San Diego the perfect fit for Boston. Their punishment could be worse than a 1st and 2nd draft pick in consecutive years since 2018 is their second offense.
Consider who is calling the shots now in Boston in Chaim Bloom. Think the package for Betts starts with the 2020 comp pick (pick 34). Jake Cronenworth is a familiar player to Bloom and would fill the long term void of Pedroia reinjury. If Gore, Patino, Abrams and Campusano are not involved that means pretty much everything else in the top 30 would be in play. Think ML pieces such as Quantrill, Morejon, Baez, Margot, Mejia or Mejia would be in play.
Figure the comp pick A and an arm like Quantrill or Morejon would cover Betts. Now you have to make it worth taking on the Myers contract. A Baez or Weathers with 2021 comp pick B and an Arias or Hunt is very doable. You would get a comp pick for Mookie in 2021 that would offset the 2021 comp B pick your sending to Bos. You could also be getting a comp pick for Yates and/or Richards. Purging the Myers contract and Mookie for one yr would be the good move.
If they can somehow put Hosmer in the deal (I realize he has a NTC) then I’m all ears.
But let’s face it, giving up a massive haul for ONE YEAR of one player can only serve the best interests of one person: the GM who is on the hot seat.
Now there is another report on MLB Trade Rumors about trading for Marte. Marte is no center fielder.
Our only hope is the owners will thwart any more CRAZY Preller deals.
The match up between these 2 teams works (at first). Boston wants to unload Price and his hefty contract. They’ve had zero takers, so they decided to insist on a package of Betts and Price. At the same time, the Pads want to unload Myers.
By getting Betts, that makes the Padres lineup much better. The Sox need a first baseman, and that’s probably Myers appropriate position.
Here’s my concerns. First, no way that I include any of the Padres top 5 prospects. If the do, they’re idiots. I am ok with any other combination of prospects and probably you’d figure Margot (maybe he goes in a separate trade?), but this is very risky for San Diego….what if Price is indeed finished? And Betts becomes a 1 year rental?
San Diego cannot afford to spend money on Price for additional years of nothing. And to give up Margot and say 3-4 other prospect kills us. The upside would be if SD re-signed Betts (unlikely), and Price rebounds and becomes at worst a solid #2 starter (doubtful).
Therefore, I pass on this deal. I hope Myers somehow out of no where has a great 1st half of the 2020 season, and you trade him at the all-star break for whatever you can get. Then wait until 2021 and Gore starts, and Patino follows in 2022. This is much more likely and a much smaller cost.
Nooooooooo ……. NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO
NO
NO!!!!!
Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.
Pads would have to give up a lot for a one year rental.
The Pads should be in contention this year and better yet there will be in the hunt for years to come.
If you can do this without giving up gore, patino, abrams, or campusano……why wouldnt you? Even if its only one year because i dont see them extending him or signing him in free agency! It would be a fun year thats for sure!
For the same reasons that the Red Sox wouldn’t do it unless they get Gore, Patino, Abrams or Campusano.
Well according to Dennis Lin they have talked to the point of exchanging names which don’t include the top 5. Although the also started its unlikely it has legs enough to be reported by several media sites. Once you factor in comp picks that can be traded and several high end prospects that have already graduated from being prospects based on service time; there are plenty of pieces to get a deal done. Quantity for quality trades are very rare but with punishment yet to be handed down from the commissioner, what the Padres could offer in high upside volume could be tempting to a Chaim Bloom. Face it, if Boston wants Mookie, they just pull a Chapman and resign him as a FA in 2021, resetting the payroll threshold and getting a half dozen prospects/ comp picks to offset the MLB punishment.
You make it sound so simple. There are 200-300 free agents every, counting players who can be non tendered. How many resign with a team that turned them loose? A handful. How many of them are stars? None. It happens every few years, and never a player as good as Betts. The Chapman scenario was an aberration.