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
My last game before heading to Chile for two months. https://twitter.com/jorgecastillo/status/1231969531192414209?s=20
https://twitter.com/BrianCostin/status/1231780869406363649?s=20
Mutts’ announcers just referred to Houston as the “Asteriscos.” They continue to eviscerate them as the broadcast continues.
I look forward to watching some of that after the Dodger game.
Mookie’s first RBI as a Dodger!
https://twitter.com/DodgerYard/status/1231621623310159873?s=20
Joe and Orel are on TV, and the Dodgers are up 5-1. It’s a good day so far.
https://twitter.com/AndyJ0seph/status/1231374595015340032?s=20
Of course they aren’t allowed. I’m making a mental note to watch the Mets-Astros series when it comes to CitiField, a stadium where signs are always allowed, and are creative as all heck.
Edited to add – They didn’t even allow any of the regulars to play today for fear their feelings would be hurt by people booing them.
Dodgers game originally scheduled for noon PST, now postponed until 2:15. Available on MLBTV, Gonsolin starting v. Gnats.
https://twitter.com/BlakeHarrisTBLA/status/1231271832780562433?s=20
“Ruthlessly pricking our Gonsolin bubble”
In the first inning, Gnats appear to be in mid-season form.
Start time postponed to 2:30 PST. It sounds as if field conditions are less than ideal.
Wow! Asterisk fans suing the club. Moreover, club takes it out on the law firm. https://twitter.com/theathleticbiz/status/1230957583541899267?s=21
A class-action suit on behalf of Asterisks season-ticket holders would be entertaining.
The Astros are done for, in Pennsylvania, at least… https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/houston-astros-little-league-name-ban-pennsylvania.html
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).
99 comments and they have not even played a spring training game yet.
Yeah, we are missing all the stories on players coming to camp “in the best shape ever!”
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)..
Meanwhile, ST. https://twitter.com/pedromoura/status/1230596435227267072?s=21
I have sent the following snail mail to the Commissioner’s office. Feel free to follow suit.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/840b5b8d6447236e1398642060165f4541704c093f100e58934f6895d8b0f56e.png
Strong and true, WBB.
Kai Ryssdal of public radio’s Marketplace is indignant. https://twitter.com/kairyssdal/status/1230259944244408320?s=20
I like that.
Jon finds Andre Ethier willing to talk about the Astros’ crimes and punishment.
SI writes about Manfred’s curious decision to grant immunity to players.
SI finds at least four things surprising about it. Here’s the first:
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.
Seems rather moot, as MLB decided beforehand not to go after individual players.
If so, that’s dereliction of duty that should result in immediate changes at the top.
Gather that they didn’t want to be saddled with 30-odd grievance cases while Houston fielded a AAA team.
Would the players really want to contest the charges publicly?
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.
Would you take back their rings?
On the contrary, they should be forced to wear them like the scarlet letter.
Altuve needs to hire Lance Armstrong to be his designated liar.
https://twitter.com/Chandler_Rome/status/1229446604173848576?s=20
MLBTR has polled its readers on whether to vacate the Asterisks’ Series win. The voting is still open. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fef52d53ebc1b1dcd74c792320d318d16618c95474ea84aba69b9e50eea7371a.png
Link to poll blog post: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/02/mlbtr-poll-stripping-the-astros-2017-title.html
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.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOIX2zn_vOc
https://twitter.com/mookiebetts/status/1229404552652378112
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.”
Kyle Garlick to the Phil’s for LHP Tyler Gilbert.
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.
More college baseball on MLBTV today – Vanderbilt v. Cal Poly SLO.
To put matters into perspective… https://twitter.com/BlakeHarrisTBLA/status/1229208373662380032?s=20
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.
50% off subscriptions to The Athletic today only.
If anybody’s interested, MLBTV is streaming a college game between Michigan and Cal Poly SLO at the moment.
Bellinger is not happy with the Astros. Read the thread for more.
https://twitter.com/jorgecastillo/status/1228352957478912001
More from Bellinger, with bonus remarks from Alex Wood.
https://twitter.com/TurdFerfuson/status/1228744363225698304?s=20
Dusty doesn’t deserve the grief he’s gonna have to take with the Asterisks.
Dusty had a poor and earned reputation as a manager for abusing arms (learned from Lasorda?) and going with his gut. He has changed and never deserved to be fired by the Nats. He also deserves a better way of getting back to managing than having to helm the Asterisks. At the same time, he is probably the best man for the job with his disarming manner and ability to control the clubhouse. It’s going to be a rocky ride. These wounds need to be healed for the better of baseball.
Speaking of Muncy:
https://twitter.com/BlakeHarrisTBLA/status/1228040566727819265
They should have it when the Snakes are in town and BadGums is pitching.
Dodgers have eight players in MLB’s top 100 (FWIW, the Gnats have gnone). https://www.mlb.com/news/top-100-mlb-players-for-2020
Max Munster getting his due checking in at #36.
If you need a fix… https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1228343147593207808?s=20
U of Hawai’i plays Vandy in Nashville 2/28-3/1, followed by Oregon here the following weekend. Big West conference play starts March 27.
Boswell strikes again… https://twitter.com/ThomasBoswellWP/status/1228145318857973760?s=20
Twitter was not impressed with Houston owner Crane’s “apology” yesterday:
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2020/02/13/astros-apology-twitter-reaction-jose-altuve-alex-bregman
He deserves to be expelled from baseball, and the franchise relegated to the Texas League and required to wear black sox. Here’s a great, succinct lede… https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/02/13/houston-astros-apology-sign-stealing
After that performance I think he should be treated as the NBA’s Adam Silver did Donald Sterling of the Clippers: forced to sell and get out of the sport forever.
Here’s a prospectus, so to speak… https://twitter.com/fangraphs/status/1227593503879974917?s=20
An important detail. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e888014d28a58dfc7154fd5568328653ff5613dc0751bb5c0e23ebbacaddc00e.png
Like Zappa when Frank was alive. If he looks like Zappa probably does now…
Speaking of prospects, it seems that Yadier Alvarez is in camp. He was suspended last year for leaving his minor league team. A former #1 prospect for the Dodgers, he had lights out talent, but never put it together. Still young (24 in March). Perhaps the time off helped reboot mentally.
https://twitter.com/billplunkettocr/status/1227047945540788230?s=20. Kelley’s son from last year.
Don’t follow Angle blogs but their fans can’t be too happy with their owner Moreno.
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.
Another look at Graterol. https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1226646422264655873?s=20
https://twitter.com/Joe_Davis/status/1227354800435556352
Here’s SI’s Tom Verducci with an initial explanation of the new playoff format Manfred suggested.
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
Rob Manfred is dumber than a box of rocks.
Jayson Stark explains the financial reasons that influenced the Red Sox’ decision to trade Betts. One big part:
Alex Wood responds to a rather fatuous Buster Olney remark on the proposed playoff structure:
https://twitter.com/Awood45/status/1227308153735405568
Old friend Ron Roenicke is now the “interim” manager of the Red Sox.
If ever there were a thankless job…
What about Dusty’s new assignment? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e777e30c571a7889e8a19450b099db287dfad67a611d798712e0d11d5b786e7.png
Marwin Gonzalez comes clean (Kenta’s new teammate).
Ah, an apology for sign-stealing.
Has he returned his ring and donated his winnings to charity yet?
Poco a poco. Don’t begrudge the first batter to fess up. Of course bigger would be for a current ‘Stro batter to at least come clean.
Heck, Dick Mountain’s teammate as well!
Fun fact: Mookie is a distant cousin of the Duchess of Sussex. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9a8456329f2e2c9deff01d9e2d592250850108dcd27b961bd53cd43bedb267d4.png
https://twitter.com/DodgersDigest/status/1227261050954842112?s=20
Fastball pitchers tend to do better when they move from the AL to the NL, and he’ll be pitching in more pitcher-friendly ballparks in the NL West than the AL East. (He sits at Coors.)
If he stays healthy he could be as good as Dick Mountain was for the Dodgers when HE was healthy.
Or, at least, healthier than Dick Mountain…
Class from Kenta Maeda:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8aTCP2lLg4/
https://twitter.com/jay_jaffe/status/1227043195328004096
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.
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.
Will miss Kenta as well, though watching him was often maddening.
He was better suited to relief.
Comparative corruption study… https://twitter.com/BillShaikin/status/1226928878267949056?s=20
Thoughtful article by Mr. Boswell, who may now be the best living baseball writer. https://twitter.com/ThomasBoswellWP/status/1226871096005316608?s=20
Dugout umpires! I can hear the squealing now!
I am going to date myself, but this past week’s Mookie Betts roller coaster would rival any E-ticket ride at Disneyland.
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.
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1227069574727684096
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.
https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1226665389372907520?s=20
Oh good. The Dodgers desperately need outfielders.
Irony or justice?
https://twitter.com/AKinSoCal/status/1226650854423351297
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.
As he said, he’s grasping at straws.
Now we move our attention to the Angels trade.