The Mookie Betts Trade

for those of you that have been living under the rock mookie betts and david price are now members of the only team that actually plays in los angeles but if only it was that easy this trade was supposed to be finished about a week ago but after some unforeseen backlash unethical leaking of players medical information and a whole lot of mess ups it was delayed until all the teams were finally able to put something together now that we have had some time to digest all of this information it's time for a full trade analysis so what's going on everybody it's Dawson and today we are going to be discussing the disaster that is the mookie betts trade including how we got here what's next for the Red Sox and Dodgers the corresponding moves and what this means for Mookie Betts is free agency let's go ahead and get started I am sure that a lot of Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general are still confused on the real reason why Mookie Betts was traded yes after this year Mookie Betts will become a free agent yes the Red Sox had the worst farm system in baseball and yes the Red Sox were not going to compete with the Yankees this year even if they kept him while all of those circumstances contributed a small part to Mookie Betts being traded none of those were the main reason the main reason is money yes a baseball franchise valued at over three billion dollars had to trade away an MVP talent because of financial reasons and no that was not sarcasm leading up to the Red Sox World Series run in 2018 and slightly after they made a lot of short sighted decisions JD Martinez signed for nearly 24 million a year price for around 30 million a year Ivaldi 417 million a year sale for 30 million a year and most recently BOE guards for 20 million a year and while they were making a lot of these deals to help out their chances of winning a World Series their farm system was completely cleaned out oh and let's not forget they are still paying Pablo Sandoval's five million dollars a year to not play for them after that horrendous deal they offered him in the 2014 offseason and all of that into the luxury tax which helped the Red Sox realize that now it was the time to trade mookie betts looking at the highest team payrolls heading into 2020 the Red Sox are currently listed at 5th with a total 2020 payroll of over a hundred and seventy seven million dollars and for a team that is currently projected to win eighty-five games which is a really generous projection having a payroll within the top five in baseball is bad but let's say the Red Sox decided to keep Mookie Betts and David price what would have happened then let's start with price in December of 2015 price and the Red Sox agreed to a seven-year 217 million dollar contract which at the time was the largest contract ever given to a pitcher price had a player opt-out after 2018 but of course he decided to keep his contract and stay with three years left on his deal the Red Sox would have been paying him thirty two million dollars a year going into his age 36 season this would mean the Red Sox would have paid to guys in their rotation over 62 million dollars a year which is nearly 16 million dollars more than what the entire Miami Marlins roster is making this year bets will be a free agent after this season this year he is making 27 million dollars and it is projected that he will make Mike Trout money when he becomes a free agent the Red Sox did try multiple times to extend bets and it was reported that he countered the Red Sox offers with 12 years four hundred and twenty million the chance that Betts would have gotten that kind of offer from the Red Sox and resigned is minuscule but for the sake of this video we can assume that if the Red Sox were able to extend bets it would have been for well over thirty million dollars a year if bets and price were still members of the Red Sox their total 2020 payroll would have been around two hundred and forty million dollars which is just shy of the New York Yankees for the number one spot this would have placed the Red Sox in the second tier of the competitive balance tabs threshold which taxes teams at a 62% rate any move of significance to help the Red Sox compete for another Championship would have put them past the third competitive balance stats threshold meaning the Red Sox would have been taxed at a ninety two point five to 95% rate if bets was extended for let's say 350 million for the next ten years it would have been nearly impossible for the Red Sox to remain below the third competitive balance times threshold for the next few years so with taxes included mookie betts would have cost the Red Sox at least 200 million within the first three years of his deal but with trading bets in price the Red Sox are able to reset their tax rate and get down to 20% which will benefit their chances of winning in the long term alright enough about taxes let's get into the mess that was this past week February 4th 2029 10:00 p.m. news of a Red Sox teal descent Mookie Betts and David price to the Dodgers was announced as news of the return package began to come out the Red Sox began to get absolutely bashed but the trade was not quite done yet the twins hopped on as a third team in the trade to get some starting pitching the first draft of the trade looked like this Dodgers received Mookie Betts and David Price from the Red Sox the Red Sox received Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo and twins reliever Brutus are greater all and the twins would receive Dodgers right-hander Kent of my ADA in a corresponding moved the Dodgers were prepared to send joc pederson to the Angels while the players involved were ready to head off on their new journey the trade came crashing down Brutus our greater all is one of the bigger pieces involved in this deal he was a top prospect in the twin system with some electrode stuff out of the bullpen yes bull pen while Brutus ardent performed that well when he was called up last season he only pitched nine point two innings in 10 games the Red Sox saw greater all is more of a starter than a reliever which I mean the guy missed two months with a bad shoulder has already had Tommy John surgery and is known for his strange whipping motion to produce his high velocity but anyways when the Red Sox received his medical report they were a bit ticked off concerned with the overall package they were receiving they asked the twins for another top ten prospect and when the twins received that call I can only assume they replied like this when all of this information was leaked to the public thus parts began to fly MLB Players Association director Tony Clark put together a statement saying the proposed trades between the Dodgers Red Sox twins and angels need to be resolved without any further delay the events of this last week have unfairly put several players lives in a state of limbo the Neth achill leaking of medical information as well as the perversion of the salary arbitration process serve as continued reminders that too often players are treated as commodities by those running the game and Tony Clark is 100% right for nearly a week players didn't know whether to pack their bags for Arizona or Florida for spring training greater odds medical information shouldn't have been leaked and you can bet that all of this will be brought up in next year's CBA discussions as if this whole situation couldn't get any worse a report came out that Red Sox ownership was surprised by the unforeseen backlash after trading away one of their best players in franchise history red sauce GM Hein Blum was quick to shoot that report down citing that Mookie was an important part of the team and of course that they knew they would come with fan backlash however a lot of the backlash from the original trade was not because they were trading mookie betts this was a move that we could see coming for a while now based off the structure of the Red Sox future payroll a lot of the backlash came from the fact that the Red Sox were receiving what looked like a very light return for trading away one of the best players in baseball trading away a star player will always be met by upset fans but trading away a star player for the original pack the Red Sox agreed to is even worse thankfully for the sake of the Red Sox the original trade was at a stalemate until a few days later at this point it seemed like a trade between the teams was close to falling apart motivated to get a deal done the dodgers decided that it was worth it to give up a little bit more than intended then the final trade was approved in the final draft of the trade the dodgers still received mookie betts and david price along with some cash the Red Sox receive outs for dugo catcher Conor Wong and LA's number two prospect in cheater downs yes hahahahaha a guy with the name Jeter playing for the Red Sox and in a corresponding moved the twins trade for right-hander Kenta Maeda 10 million dollars and a minor-league catcher Jericho Margo in return the Dodgers receive Brutus are greater all minor league prospect Luke Raley and the number 67 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft there's a lot to unpack here but let's start off with the return package for Boston if anything there is one thing for certain this return package is a lot better than the original the Red Sox are still able to receive Alice Verdugo who had a very solid year last year he is entering his age twenty four season and won't be a free agent until 2025 Verdugo has shown the ability to consistently made solid contact and his strong arm is a weapon in the outfield his projections show that he can be a very solid everyday outfielder with raw potential of becoming a future all-star Jeter downs is probably the most interesting piece in this trade last offseason he was sent to the Dodgers from the Reds as a part of the yasiel puig trade Downs has shown the ability to do a little bit of everything while I was looking through a scouting report I found that although he does a lot of things pretty well he doesn't exceed in one signature area like a lot of top prospects do Downs is still 21 years old and he was able to reach double-a last year in the Dodgers system along with Verdugo he will likely end up being a very solid everyday player with all-star potential how much he is able to develop his many tools in a new organization will have the biggest impact on his future the last piece is Connor Wang the 23 year old Wang turned some heads last year at the end of last season when he was called up to Double A in 40 games he had a slash line of 349 393 and 604 while he is listed as a catcher Wang has the ability to play second and third base as well which could turn him into a very versatile bench piece now for the Dodgers Mookie Betts is mookie betts and I don't really think that needs much explaining but one thing to look out for this season is to see how Betts adjusts to playing in the National League taking a look at Betts his stats in interleague play is actually performed slightly better however when you are adjusting to a new league we have seen hitters in the past struggle at the start now I'm not saying it'll be that way for bets but it is something to look out for if it does happen it can put a dent on his price tag in free agency which we will get into later although the Dodgers did end up working over Jeter downs to the Red Sox at least the Red Sox will be paying half of David prices contract until it is up following the 2022 season this does take price into his age 36 season which is cause for some concern especially after last year in 22 games with the Red Sox last season he finished with a 4.2 atra a 1.3 1/4 whip and his hits per nine saw a dramatic increase getting at least half of prices contract off the payroll was a necessity for the Red Sox and is one of the bigger reasons why the return package for Boston doesn't look that strong this isn't to say that price still can't be a decent player on a contending team but there certainly are concerns along with bets this will be prices first year in the National League and it looks like he will be in the middle or towards the back end of the rotation for the Dodgers going into the spring but what about the twins giving up Brutus our greater all does sting a little bit but honestly I'm ok with it he is still young but concerns with his shoulder we'll follow him into LA he does have the potential to take over for Kenley Jansen but that potential does look a little bit shaky giving up the 67th pick shouldn't hurt the twins that much either after all it is a compensation pic this is assuming the Dodgers don't draft and I'll start with that pic but based off historical odds I'll take my chances in return the twins were able to land starter Kenta Maeda who will fit right into their rotation the pitching depth will certainly help when we get into the dog days of July in August also my ADA's contract is very affordable he will be making three million dollars every year until he is a free agent after the 2023 season on top of that the twins received 10 million dollars the minor leaguers attached to the deal outfielder Luke ralien catcher Jericho Margo are not very strong prospects Camargo will be heading to the twins and Raley will be heading to the Dodgers both do have a valid chance to make it to the majors one day but the chances of them making an impact or slim oh yeah what about joc pederson and Ross stripling going to the Angels whatever happened to that trade turns out angels ownership became impatient and decided to call off the trade so now joc pederson and Ross stripling are going to the field pretty awkward returning to a team that was ready to ship them off a week ago but as for the trades that did happen how is it looking overall well for the Dodgers I see this as an absolute win sure price probably won't be near the player that he used to be but this trade wasn't designed for him I'd spread bets to have a typical bet season if not better heading into his walkie earth while Betts has admitted signing a long term extension with the Dodgers isn't on his mind at the moment which of course it's not he literally just got here I wouldn't take it out of the realm of possibility it would however be very difficult as a lot of Dodgers players are heading into arbitration not to mention it'll soon be time to back up the brains truck into Cody Bellinger's driveway since Mookie did end up turning down some extension offers from the Red Sox he will most likely end up testing the open market my money is on him heading to San Diego the Dodgers also somehow ending up with greater all and all this mess is good on their part greater all could end up being the nuts Kenley Jansen or he could be haunted by injuries and not reach his full potential honestly right now it is still up in the err the twins got another starter that their rotation needed and as for the Red Sox yikes it's not necessarily that this trade is awful but it was a necessary evil for the Red Sox to complete after short-sighted decisions from past management you can't help but feel bad for Red Sox GM Hein Blum for being thrown into this situation then having to feel the wrath of angry fans for something that wasn't even his fault to begin with but as an overall trade it made sense for each team involved the Dodgers now put forward what is truly their best shot at winning a World Series the twins received the starter they wanted as they look for another al central crown and Boston partially hits the reset button as they continue to drown in bad contracts for the next few years it's a shame that this is one of the biggest trades in baseball history and it will go down the way it did now every time I look back on the Mookie Betts trade I won't be looking at it because of the significance of the deal but what a disaster it truly was for everyone involved thank you all for watching if you enjoyed be sure to drop a like on the video and if you are new be sure to subscribe to the channel and turn on those Bell notifications and let me know in the comment section below what you think about the trade for the Dodgers and if you think this year will be the year the Dodgers finally win it all and before I go really quick I just wanted to plug my Instagram I post a lot of baseball stuff over there so make sure you guys check it out links to all my social will be in the description but thanks again everyone and I will see you all in the next everything was changed turn it into a very nice girl aren't you love didn't reciprocate take everything we've done don't wanna let it go to waste bring me back to pay bring me back to lay everything

Channel: Dawson Wright

Views: 252,913

Keywords: mookie betts, boston red sox, mookie betts trade, los angeles dodgers, mlb, major league baseball, mlb offseason, mookie betts dodgers, mookie betts red sox, red sox, dodgers, brusdar graterol, mookie betts trade analysis, mlb offseason recap, alex verdugo, jeter downs, david price, david price dodgers, dawson wright, dawson wright mlb, yankees, sf giants, atlanta braves, bryce harper, phillies, mike trout, white sox, javier baez, aaron judge, mookie betts highlights

Id: Q2co8bd5WME

Length: 17min 14sec (1034 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 16 2020