Betts deal finally done

Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan:

Catching prospect Connor Wong is headed to the Boston Red Sox alongside outfielder Alex Verdugo and shortstop Jeter Downs in the trade that will send outfielder Mookie Betts, starter David Price and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers, sources tell ESPN. Players have been notified.

Notice the Twins were left out of that deal. However, Passan also says

The trade that will send right-hander Kenta Maeda and cash to the Minnesota Twins for right-hander Brusdar Graterol and the 67th pick in the draft — which has around a $1 million slot value — has been agreed upon, source confirms to ESPN. @Ken_Rosenthal was first with the deal.

Here’s an interesting perspective:

The Dodgers turned Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Yasiel Puig into Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs

Jeter Downs just got them Mookie Betts, they kept Josiah Gray and they also brought back Alex Wood

124 thoughts on “Betts deal finally done

  1. Mutts’ announcers just referred to Houston as the “Asteriscos.” They continue to eviscerate them as the broadcast continues.

  2. I’m currently watching the Northeastern University Huskies play the Sawx in a spring training game. We’ll see how the sign-stealing goes, but old friend Jeter Downs just hit an infield single (thanks to generous home scoring).

    • Yeah, we are missing all the stories on players coming to camp “in the best shape ever!”

  3. Tyler White was DFA’d, given his outright release, and then signed a minor league deal back with the Dodgers, basically the best possible outcome for his situation. He is also the only ex-Astro in camp (although he only had a cup of trash can coffee in 2017)..

  4. SI writes about Manfred’s curious decision to grant immunity to players.

    As each day passes, the electronic sign-stealing scandal in Major League Baseball proves more irritating to those impacted by it. This is especially true for players, who are all members of the same union, the Major League Baseball Players Association.

    SI finds at least four things surprising about it. Here’s the first:

    First, the players were already obligated under the collective bargaining agreement to “provide reasonable cooperation with an investigation, including but not limited to producing documents and information.” It’s true that players could have refused to cooperate and that, as a private entity, MLB had no power to subpoena or compel disclosure. However, Manfred could have punished players for failing to satisfy their contractual obligation to cooperate. In other words, it wasn’t as if Manfred lacked leverage.

    It goes on from there to a discussion of how the intra-union finger-pointing could hurt the union overall as it begins negotiating a new CBA.

    • Not opposed to the granting of immunity in this case. For me, singling out individual players for punishment would have been very complicated. Indeed, based on conspiracy even those that did not actively participate but who had knowledge of the situation would be guilty. As such, the whole team was in line for punishment. I think the Commissioner erred in not punishing the team enough. They should at the very least been stripped of the title and prohibited from participating in the playoffs.

      • You don’t grant immunity without conditions, though. There needs to be consequences if the players don’t fess up completely.

          • Gather that they didn’t want to be saddled with 30-odd grievance cases while Houston fielded a AAA team.

          • Without a doubt, as it is their livelihood and reputation. At the very least they would argue due process, and could conceivably have the Union as an ally. If it then got into the specifics of what did you know and when did you know it, can you imagine the amount of litigation involved for 30 cases. Much cleaner to declare the whole team guilty of either participation or conspiracy. The problem is that the penalty handed out by the Commish on the team didn’t go far enough to satisfy other players or fans.

  5. JT goes off on Rob Manfred.

    The money quote: “I don’t know if the commissioner has ever won anything in his life,” Turner said in front of his locker Monday. “Maybe he hasn’t. But the reason every guy’s in this room, the reason every guy is working out all offseason, and showing up to camp early and putting in all the time and effort is specifically for that trophy, which, by the way, is called the Commissioner’s Trophy.
    “So for him to devalue it the way he did yesterday just tells me how out of touch he is with the players in this game. At this point the only thing devaluing that trophy is that it says ‘Commissioner’ on it.”

  6. JT goes off on Rob Manfred.

    The money quote: “I don’t know if the commissioner has ever won anything in his life,” Turner said in front of his locker Monday. “Maybe he hasn’t. But the reason every guy’s in this room, the reason every guy is working out all offseason, and showing up to camp early and putting in all the time and effort is specifically for that trophy, which, by the way, is called the Commissioner’s Trophy.
    “So for him to devalue it the way he did yesterday just tells me how out of touch he is with the players in this game. At this point the only thing devaluing that trophy is that it says ‘Commissioner’ on it.”

    • Garlick was pretty good in spot appearances last season, but not much room for him on a loaded roster.

      • Just so. He gets a chance to play, the Dodgers clear a name off the 40-man and get a decent pitching prospect.

    • Manfred had a rough press conference today. Apparently he doesn’t understand why nobody accepts what he wrote in his report as gospel.

      Meanwhile Dusty is stumping for protecting Astro hitters from retaliation, which would mean no pitcher in the league would be allowed to throw inside to them.

      • I sent an email to MLB stating, essentially, that Manfred was gutless, and that Judge Landis would have banned them all for life.

  7. If anybody’s interested, MLBTV is streaming a college game between Michigan and Cal Poly SLO at the moment.

    • PECOTA projections have them in a dogfight for a WC with several teams, so adding Joc and Strip would have put them into a good position to actually see post-season for the first time in a long time.

  8. Here’s SI’s Tom Verducci with an initial explanation of the new playoff format Manfred suggested.

    The league’s presentation included these ideas:

    • Seven teams in each league make the playoffs, up from the current five.

    • The wild card games are replaced with a best-of-three wild card series.

    • Playoff teams are seeded first by division winners and then by teams with the next four highest win totals. (Ties are broken by head-to-head series. No tiebreaker games for postseason entry or seeding will be held.)

    • The No. 1 seed will get a first-round bye. On the Sunday night after teams play the last game of the regular season, a “selection show” will take place in which the No. 2 seed chooses which team it wants to play among the bottom three seeds (Nos. 5, 6 and 7). The No. 3 seed then makes its choice. The No. 4 seed plays the remaining club.

    • The higher seed will host all three games in that round.

    • The remainder of the postseason–Championship and World Series–remain unchanged. There is no re-seeding after the “wild card series” takes place.

    My first response is WHAT? Pick who you want to play? What sort of nonsense is this?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjplZXgodhs

    • They devalue the regular season. If all you have to be to reach the playoffs is mediocre, then all teams will be mediocre.

      • It one of the most stupid things I have ever heard.
        Over here is Aus in our national rugby league, they changed the format of our playoff where 10 out of 20 teams in total made it. We had teams under .500 qualifying. The system lasted 1 season

  9. Jayson Stark explains the financial reasons that influenced the Red Sox’ decision to trade Betts. One big part:

    So if they’re in the 20-percent bracket, they would save over $20 million on Mookie’s deal in the first year alone. Then, even though their rate could rise to 30 percent the following year, they’d still save another $10 million in Year 2 of the contract. Their tax in the following years would depend on where their payroll is and what the rules look like. Nevertheless, that $30-million savings is pretty much a lock.

  10. Apart from the acquisitions, also happy that we have Lux, May and Ruiz still in the fold! Will miss Verdugo. Enjoyed seeing him flash his talents and his bling.

  11. Apart from the acquisitions, also happy that we have Lux, May and Ruiz still in the fold! Will miss Verdugo. Enjoyed seeing him flash his talents and his bling.

  12. I am going to date myself, but this past week’s Mookie Betts roller coaster would rival any E-ticket ride at Disneyland.

  13. Dodgers 40 is now at 42. We will very soon see another trade. If Joc somehow stays, Kershaw and Turner will wrap their arms around him and the rest of the team sans Pollock will welcome him back.

    I like Strip too and while I would also like for him to stay a Dodger he could have been the Angels #3 rotation piece.

    • More important for FO is how to reduce that number while still getting under luxury tax. Guessing that if Joc stays they need to unload Pollock to get there.

      • I realize it’s not my money, but they don’t have to get under the luxury tax threshold. They managed to reset the penalty to the lowest level last year, so they could go a little over, and then get back under again next year. They certainly have the revenues to cover any tax, And it’s a little easier now that Joc lost his arbitration case.

        Now if they want to sign Mookie next year, things are going to get dicey.

        • Granted, but guessing that the inclination to move Joc was twofold. Getting something of value for him now before he goes FA and staying under the threshold. They may very well go over next year, but not starting the clock until then might be their preference.

        • Granted, but guessing that the inclination to move Joc was twofold. Getting something of value for him now before he goes FA and staying under the threshold. They may very well go over next year, but not starting the clock until then might be their preference.

    • Well, Tyler White is still on the 40-man for some reason, so that can be one to go. There are also now a surplus of relievers (Floro, Alexander) who I wouldn’t miss.

      • Angels need relievers so maybe trade Floro and Alexander and Rios to the Angels for those from the 1st trade.

  14. Now it looks like the Angels – Dodgers Pederson & Stripling to the Angels for a mid-level infield prospect deal is dead. Good. I didn’t think the Dodgers got enough in return for those two major leaguers the way the trade was originally made.

    • Angles fans should not be happy. While they got Rendon, they really need SP and Joc’s bat would have been helpful as well, if they have any thoughts of contending.

    • Angles fans should not be happy. While they got Rendon, they really need SP and Joc’s bat would have been helpful as well, if they have any thoughts of contending.

  15. I was talking today to a friend who is a Sawx fan, and his take is that the reason the Sawx are trading Betts to the Dodgers is to help ensure the Yanks don’t win the World Series. At least that’s the only reason he can think of that makes the trade at all palatable to him.

    • He can think that if he likes. I think it’s a refusal to pay him $300-$400M when he hits free agency. Given the Red Sox’ status as one of the two or three richest teams in baseball, there’s little hope that seems reasonable to the Fenway faithful.