The price tag for Padres to acquire Mookie Betts
Credit: Boston Globe
The San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox are reportedly discussing a deal for former AL MVP Mookie Betts. But what would it take for his services?
San Diegans have seen this before.
Before the 2015 season, A.J. Preller and his staff acquired Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Justin Upton, Will Middlebrooks, Derek Norris, Craig Kimbrel, and James Shields. The San Diego Padres went for it all. The franchise always had a reputation for being frugal. But they spent money and invested in the future of the franchise.
That run of players did not exactly respond to the challenge, but for the fan base- it was an exciting time. The front office failed miserably, but they tried. In a city starved for playoff baseball, an attempt meant a lot to the fans of the team. The ownership group continues to spend and attempt to secure a fruitful future. Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado were given the richest contract in team history in consecutive winters. You can no longer say the team is not trying to succeed.
After another last-place finish in 2019, changes needed to be made.
The Padres traded for Tommy Pham, Trent Grisham, Zach Davies, and Jurickson Profar this winter. They added Drew Pomeranz to an already stable bullpen and even brought back veteran Craig Stammen to help lead the group. Preller made small, subtle additions, but there are whispers that the team is looking to make a more substantial move.
News broke late on Thursday from Dennis Lin of The Athletic that the Padres and Red Sox are discussing a deal for Mookie Betts.
The article mentions that Wil Myers is in the discussions, and there is a lot of speculation that the remaining money left on his contract is the real hold up in a potential deal. Boston does not sound opposed to receiving Myers, but they are naturally skeptical about the total sum of $70.5 million due for three more years. That is fair.
The Padres have plenty of depth at the major league level and the minor league level to satisfy Boston’s needs. Young pitchers like Adrian Morejon, Michel Baez, Cal Quantrill, and Ronald Bolanos would be enticing to the Sox. Position players like Josh Naylor, Franchy Cordero, and Ty France might also be of interest. Heck, even Manuel Margot, makes some sense. And those are just names of men who have accrued major league service time. Trading Betts will be difficult for the fan base in Bean Town, but getting instant satisfaction from players who are already seasoned may be the correct move.
The Padres could very easily dip into their talent pool of teenage players to consummate this deal if that is the route Chaim Bloom and his Boston’ staff want. MacKenzie Gore, Luis Patino, CJ Abrams, Luis Campusano, and Taylor Trammell can’t be included in this deal, but beyond that- anyone should be available for the Red Sox. If it weren’t for the fact Betts is a free agent in 11 months, Boston could easily ask for one of the Padres top 5 prospects. But that isn’t likely to happen.
It is difficult to speculate exactly who would be in this deal. There is no doubt that the Padres could satisfy the Red Sox itch. The question is- will they?
The Padres have a loaded 40-man roster presently. There is no doubt that they desire a little flexibility in that regard. Trading multiple players that are on the 40-man for a player like Mookie Betts could be really beneficial for San Diego. Can Preller and the Padres add a perennial All-Star before spring camp starts? Stay tuned. Where there is smoke, there generally is fire when it comes to the San Diego Padres and their young G.M. making deals.
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.
Boston doesn’t NEED to cut payroll.
Boston doesn’t NEED to trade Betts as all.
They would value Margot only as a 5th OF.
Getting Betts and getting rid of all or more than half of Myers’ money without giving up a top-5 prospect is a pipe dream.
Boston can keep Betts and compete.
Correct… it’s not an absolute that the must reduce salary. They need to and are trying to in order to not pay the luxury tax and take on the draft penalties as a repeat offender.
They don’t need to trade Betts. That’s who they’re trying to trade to combat the above.
The Padres don’t have to have Betts either. Both sides are working on getting this done though.
They can keep Betts and play this year out and suffer the luxury tax and penalties. They don’t want to. Getting some mlb ready players and prospects would allow them to accomplish what they want. Myers would give them a first baseman to which they could use. Margot/Naylor gives them a useable younger upside outfielder. Speed and upside. A young pitcher gives them depth for when Price breaks down. The prospects (2) (no lower than 10) will give them depth in their farm which could use restocking. They can all also be flipped if the change of scenery helps Myers and others.
No one is willing to take on Betts salary except the Dodgers. Rumor has it they’re willing to take on the Price money and send less in players than the Padres. It’s believed the Padres are already close with the players I mentioned. The sticking point seems to be IF we’ll send money to Boston. I’d be willing to send 15M split over 3 years of the Myers contract.
After thinking about this potential trade for a couple days.
It does have merit IF we are unloading Myers in the deal.
The man is not gonna succeed here……for whatever reason. So, find him a place where he can. While also getting some future payroll breathing room. A year of Betts would be a bonus.
Essentially, if we look at ANY potential landing spot for Myers on his own, we would be sending money (a lot of it) and a minimum of 2 quality prospects / big league ready players.
So, that stands to reason as a baseline to plug into a potential Betts trade.
Meaning, to get rid of Myers AND acquire Betts, more pieces must be added (obviously).
Further, recouping draft pick compensation when Betts departs elsewhere in the following off season help recover some impact to the farm system. OR if we are out of the race, trade to a contender while the leverage is good / better than present.
Current “projections” have the Padres at 74 – 82 wins. This man by himself is worth 6 – 8 WAR (or more).
Meaning he would “potentially” increase the win total to 78 – 88 wins.
This is assuming we take the difference of Mookie having a typical year and Margot has a typical Manny year.
The high end of that win total means a shot at a Wild Card.
Now , assuming the cost is something in this range: Adrian Morejon, Gabriel Arias or Hudson Potts, Will Myers, Manny Margot or Josh Naylor, + $22.5M (spread over 3 years). That is reasonable.
Note: <—-Including Grisham would be asinine (IMO). We gave up Urias for the man remember? The dude better be MLB top 25 prospect worthy, and that better not be included from the Padres perspective.
I agree with most everyone here, we can't give up on the premium prospects in the top 5 (or have a 2015 2.0).
These guys line up well with free agent departures over the next several seasons (Pham, Richards, Hedges, etc).
We HAVE to develop our own guys and have them produce at the big league level (FOR THE PADRES) to be competitive in SD.
Problem here is Betts is being packaged with Price and Price may be injured. The deal makes sense if they take Myers and then we give them young pieces once Price shows healthy in Spring training. But this deal has Dodgers written all over it
Myers + Margot+ Ty France+ Baez + Hunt + = Betts + Rusney Castillo. Bosox get adjusted salary relief of ~$24M Padres move some salary, streaky professional talent and prospects. Boston’s avoids $$$ + draft penalties saying under luxury cap for 2020. If Dodgers offer more talent and add $27 M to they’re cap then ride out Myers for 2020 and keep ammunition in chamber for later in the year.
Myers would be a negative value acquisition. Roughly 22mil per season for the next three years nobody would take. If the Padres want Betts they are going to have to do better than that. They would have to move him at AAV numbers and include several prospects.
I’m not saying Boston has much leverage here: they don’t. But Betts is a AS RF who is likely to have a massive walk year.
RS have to be satisfied to move such a talent.
Betts for Myers, Morejon, Grisham, Cronenworth and hedges or torrens and we eat 15million of Myers salary
No. Too much to give up for one year of Betts and some of Myers salary. Boston NEEDS to cut payroll. Make them need this deal. We’re already extending our payroll if we take on Betts. I’m good with Myers, Morejon, Margot (no longer needed), Cronenworth, and a few (3) lesser 30 – 50 level prospects. AJ insists on overpaying so I’d even throw in Mejia if they eat Myers full salary. I think we need to hold onto Grisham and the catchers.
The scuttlebutt says they’re talking Patino and our catching prospect Campa (something) 73rd prospect. AJ better not be raping the farm system and fans of SD just to win a few more games. Betts might get us 3 more wins this season… at what cost?
Myers better be gone if we get Betts and we better have our top prospects still. He’s a one year rental that we do not HAVE to acquire. This is STILL not our year. Our window is opening. 2021 and beyond is our concern. Both Patino and that catcher should figure prominently for us in 2022/2023 and for years past that.
I truly fear AJ is just going to sell short and sell often to save his butt. I hope he has enough integrity to do what right for the team and fans. There are many options that the Redsox can work with, even if they flip prospects in other trades thereafter.
They need to just make that trade for Betts ,get rid of Myers Im tired of a losing season.
I would not be against Betts if we get to move Myers and the future payroll he’s due. I would not include any of our top prospects as mentioned in the article. I’d love to ship Myers and his contract, Margot, either Quantrill or Morejon and, Naylor or France, along with a 30 – 40 prospect.
It clears payroll over the next few years (-Myers) and clears up the log jam in our outfield. It also addresses our 40 man roster crunch. I wouldn’t mind them then going after Pittsburg’s Marte with the two we didn’t trade in Morejon, Quantrill, Naylor, France, along with 2 prospects in our 20 – 30 range.
What an upgrade to our outfield while still retaining our base prospects. We thin out our ML ready players/prospects and further adjust our 40 man roster. If an even younger prospect needs to be thrown into each deal, I would do it.
As multiple people have said, this is 2015 2.0. Preller has a “mandate” to win now. Yikes. How well did that work out last time? Now there is even more pressure. One hopeful possibility is that he gets fired before the trade deadline and the new GM can get realistic value at that point.