Dodgers Offseason: Mookie Betts Drawing Trade Interest from Padres
The crickets have begun to chirp in what has been a rather quiet Dodgers offseason. They signed Blake Treinen and Alex Wood, but did not make the big move everyone was expecting. This is fine considering they still have the trade deadline to stock up for October. However, it appears that the division rival San Diego Padres are attempting to arm themselves now.
According to a recent column from The Athletic, Dennis Lin is reporting that the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox have discussed a potential trade for superstar outfielder Mookie Betts:
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
Betts has been thrown around in trade rumors for months now, including often with the Dodgers, but talks seem to have reached a stalemate in recent weeks with Boston. The Red Sox were attempting to acquire significant prospect capital and be able to unload David Price’s contract, something the Dodgers are smart for not going after.
[adace-ad id=”118954″]For San Diego, Betts would be a huge star addition to pair with Manny Machado and a talented young team. Moreover, it would help the Padres close the gap with Los Angeles in the NL West. However, the organization’s payroll likely could not handle adding the salary of Betts without some creativity.
Additionally, in Lin’s column, he does say that a deal is currently viewed as unlikely, but a variation of the deal that has been discussed includes ‘significant’ prospect capital and first baseman/outfielder Wil Myers heading to Boston in exchange for 2018 AL MVP.
The Red Sox would be better suited to deal Mookie Betts sooner rather than later in an effort to get the full year value instead of 50 cents on the dollar in July. Let’s just see if that winds up sending Mookie Betts to Los Angeles.
NEXT: Examining Why LA Was Not More Aggressive During Off-Season
Daniel Preciado
What makes you think this team will do anything at the trade deadline???
Saying that is a clear ostrich with its head in the sand take on this team.
What about this front office makes you think that will happen? Last season it didn’t happen even when there was a clear sign that it was needed. This off season was the moment that the front office needed to make a presence and a name for itself. A clear chance to leave their legacy they determine that money out weighed their will to dominate and write thekselves and their team into the history books. There has not been a better chance for this team and its front office to say look out MLB here come the Dodgers.
You ousted us in the first round of the playoffs but not this year 2020 is are year.
This FO has told me what I wanted to hear about being in on this player or that player but shown me nothing.
So alot of worthless talk. That = nothing.
Then they have shown me when it matters most to fill a gap they tell their fans (who know by the way what is needed) we like what we have and need 0 additional pieces to win this World Series last trade deadline. And then one and done flamed out in horrific fashion by not getting the person that was needed to fill that role.
So I will say to the front office don’t talk about being in on a player.
Prove it!
talk is cheap championships last forever.
To Daniel Preciado the front office or anyone who says that there is trade deadline I have seen too many come and go WITH 0 MOVES MADE.
so once again
Prove it! Dont talk about it. Do It!
True Dodger fans are done hearing about the lack of movement and the excuse why we can’t
We want why we CAN!
The last thought Is the trade deadline is always such a crapshoot with who is available and for what price. ( And usually involve trading away our best prospects instead of buying exactly what we need with the surplus of money that we are getting from our TV deal and all are lucrative offers in the Los Angeles area)…
This front office want to prove that they want a title they should have put there $ where there excuses are and went out and push the Yankees and the Angles or Nats around. instead here we are with nothing else to show except a story (fictional unfortunately) and a another story about the trade deadline
Prove it!
the time for excuses ended in 2019
Its 2020 time for a championship. excuses are just a waste of time and should be left in the past Onward and upward for 2020 and this team
Let’s go Dodgers
the Wills, the Won’ts, and the Can’ts. The Wills accomplish everything, the Won’ts oppose everything, and the Can’ts won’t try anything.
Let’s win a Championship and leave the cheaters wondering what happened.
Dodger Blue, well spoken truth bomb right there! Dan’s just doing what they tell him. Not his fault! The apologists don’t like to hear that were tired of watching all the top tier talent going to the next champions. They just like pushing the narrative of money ball and how much money they saved! I agree put a ring on that girls finger and quit playing the field and waiting for the ” right one,” to developed! Before you know it 33 years have gone and you’ve got no family!!
I think acquiring this fellah is a team killer for any team but the Dodgers or the Yanks. For anyone else, this is a payroll killer long term and prospect cleaner outer. San Diego may think they’re in the same class as the Dodgers or Yanks, but Preller will kill that team long term.
The Padres don’t want to include the top notch prospects that it would take for Boston to want to relieve them of the Myers contract
The Padres are still a year away from challenging for the division or a wildcard. They should focus on developing rookies for a serious challenge in 2021. A short term Betts rental doesn’t make sense for any team not already a contender for the 2020 postseason.
I think they’re going to surprise. They got some pretty solid hitting now overall and their pitching is good enough for a wildcard
Padres fan here:
Boston has already agreed to exclude the 1-3 or 1-5 prospects from their ask (depending which rumor you hear). Campusano is #5, and he’s on track to become a star. However, the Padres are deep at catching in the minors, and Hedges/Mejia aren’t a bad tandum, so Campu might be the key on Boston’s return. I’ve read a dozen different combinations on the rest of a potential return. Padres won’t have problems meeting Boston’s prospect ask.
On the other hand, the difference between Betts salary and Myers (AAV) will still leave Boston about $9M in the red on the CBT (Lux tax), if Boston picks up all of Myers salary. I think that $10M is the difference holding Boston back from the trade. They’d have to make some other moves to reduce their total 2020 team salary by $9M. From the Padres perspective, a one year rental of Betts, even as a 6+ WAR ballplayer, isn’t worth selling off the farm unless they get salary relief on Myers (due $65.5M 2020-2022). Betts $27M will sting. The Padres need Boston to pick up at least $10M of Myers salary, to get the Padres 2020 down to about $150M (about all the $pain$ the owners can handle for 2020).
I think the deal is doable, mainly because Boston is really in a bind. They’re going to lose at least as much as the Astros (i.e. the RSox are 2nd time, sign stealing team offenders), which means their #30 ranked farm system is going to lose maybe the #1 & #2 draft picks for 2020, 2021, or maybe even more. Plus, the Lux tax penalty will cost them 50% in cash, plus -10 slots with their first draft pick, because Boston is a third-time CBT offender. The pressure is on Boston; the Padres by comparison, have options and all the time in the world.
Hard to imagine the Friars pulling the string on this one. Just as it is hard to imagine the Dodgers truly
making a significant move between now and the next post season. The Dodgers have two more seasons of dominance in the West before both the Padres and the Dbacks will be able to seriously challenge them. Am looking forward to two more years of hearing rationalizations about how winning the West should be treasured and post season success is a crap shoot anyway.
Dan, great job to you for diverting all of your articles away from the reality. The Dodgers have done nothing to improve the team! They have lost their #2, did not add a right handed bat, and could care less that the fans feel cheated!
As a Sox fan, it’s hysterical to me that other teams think they can acquire the best player not named Mike Trout for 1-2 non-elite prospects. Yes, he’s only under contract for one more year, and no, he’s not going to sign an extension with anyone before hitting FA, but the Sox can attach a QO offer to him if other teams won’t meet the asking price, so we don’t risk “losing him for nothing” like other beat writers would like you to believe.
If I’m Bloom, I’m holding onto him – even if the Sox fall out of the playoff race in 2020 – unless the Dodgers cough up Verdugo, May, and 2 more top 10 (organizational) prospects. You can keep Lux; I’d rather stockpile arms anyways, since Boston can’t figure out how to draft and develop them, apparently.
At least the Sox know how to develope World series wins champs. Dont worry about the Dodgers getting Betts , he would have to be paid and money ball doesn’t get it’s brand name for World series wins.
Kirk, of course you know that I know yo are right on here, and we still have the inept Roberts to do the same things over and over and over again. Dodgers won 106 in a sub par division, after all 76 out of the 152 games are played within the division. and they won those 106 games IN SPITE OF ROBERTS AND cO.
Paul, Roberts doesn’t know a thing about pitching. Your right, some managers like Leyland get every ounce out of a player and can win with less. Roberts get 1/3 out of his players because platooning ! Man I’m starting to get as sick of the shifts as Rich Hill did! Did you ever see his face when he got the easy 3 rd out of the inning dribble into right field, right where the 2 nd baseman was supposed to be?
Typical Sox fan. Got the trophy and parade and now the mortage is due. Wait, we shouldn’t have to pay for this, we should expect the Dodgers to resolve our bloated payroll and send us the next wave prospects for our core to compete going forward. Please get your QO next year for him and still deal with the bloated payroll. The only thing that surprises me is that some Dodger fans will agree with you.
I’ll take 2 world series wins in 7 years for a bloated payroll for a year every time! I wonder if he would take a guaranteed ,3.5 million attendance a 8 billion t.v. deal and 33 years of losing?
Kirk … The 32 year drought honestly means nothing to me; that’s media hyped stories. The ’88 team, frankly, enjoyed a great deal of luck and probably shouldn’t have advanced past either the Mets or Oakland so it’s actually been 39 years since a powerhouse Dodgers team won.
I don’t care if the Dodgers won 1, 5, or 10 years ago I’d still want them to win every year and I’m only concerned with what the team has done – and will do – under current management. So in 5 years under this management, they’ve been to the NL championship game three times and won the pennant twice. It’s true they haven’t won the world series. Yet.
My point to the Boston fan is Dombrowski emptied his farm and blew out his budget – albeit for the win provided their cheating had little effect on the outcome – to the point where they can’t sign their best player – and one of the best in the game – and the fan can’t accept that Boston is now in a very bad place. How long will it take Bloom to dig out? Who knows but it ain’t gonna be easy.
Thanks for the explanation Bum. I wish I was as easy as you about the drought! I am the type that is all or nothing and unless you we in it all its still nothing. The problem I have with this group is they do well with duct tape, finding washed up has been, injured players and once in a while find a gem, introduce a lot of young players and besides Buehler, their homegrown guys fold in the most pressure moments. They insist that all these guys are ready when their not, and they put rookies on playoff rosters in front of clutch veterans come pressure time in Oct. Their triple A farm team hasn’t won a PAC Coast championship since 1996. Sitting Martin after he knocked in 4 and won the game and playing Smith who was hitting .077 and stunk up Sep. Playing Lux in front of Freeze. Why? Freeze was the most clutch hitter on the team and they virtually tell the fans the reason they didn’t play him in Aug Sep was to make sure he’s ready for the playoffs. Absolute stupidity or insanity take your pick. I don’t value these rookies as much as a lot of people do because they just don’t deliver! If they won the PCL I would have more belief, and so would they. There’s a reason why Boston, Nationals, etc stock up on veterans and only play the rookies that outperform the veterans! Not the Dodgers, they play the rookies because they don’t wanna pay anyone that they know would perform in Oct. Its painful for me to watch their twisted idealism. And I’m not sold on just how happy all of their players are to be sitting watching someone else play their position just because the opposing pitcher throws with s off hand! The Red Sox are doing something right, they go all out and pay veterans, use their farm to get better veterans and then take a few years to rebuild. They win, and I’ll take winning over money ball and progressive con men any day.
Kirk … I decided after pouting for 3 months when the Yankees came back from a 2 games to none deficit and beat the Dodgers in ’78 that I wasn’t going to carry that again. And you’ll never find me defending Roberts’ in game decisions or lineups in the playoffs.
I hear what you say about rookies but the thing is after they’ve been around a bit the good ones get it. It took Rendon 5 years to figure out the playoffs so I’m not willing to dismiss Seager and Bellinger just yet.
Our playoff problem – besides Roberts – is who’s going to join Buehler shutting down the opponent? Tell the truth – would you feel comfortable giving the ball to Ryu in game 2 of a world series? And I wouldn’t have felt any better picking up Keuchel or anyone of his ilk. I want to see what Urias and Tony Smokes brings to the party this year.
Betts would not be a 6.0 WAR in LA. And I think our management knows that. And not only that, but, you could get Verdugo plus a #5-#10. One year is all we would get out of Betts. They would never throw in May. .Too much upside. Yeah, you guys beat us in 2018. But with Cora? Got to wonder. A hit that would have been an out if the batter didn’t know a pitch was coming? There will always be questions with Cora being manager at that time. One little rock can cause a landslide.
He’s not welcomed at dodger stadium,once a cheater always a cheater,Padres are desperate to hire a criminal.
He should get suspended for life with his teammates and Astros too.
Betts is a great player but the future cost to re-sign him is prohibitive. IMO if San Diego gets him in a trade it will end up handcuffing them, just like that big push they made a couple years ago (when they acquired Kemp, Upton, Norris and Meyers).
Apparently Preller will never learn from his mistakes………..he’s still stuck with and desperate to move Meyers for Gods sake………
Padres have a good young team but acquiring massive contracts like Betts is going to require and demand is not something a small market team like the Padres can sustain for very long.
Ask the D_Backs why they had to unload Greinke……….they did not want to, they had to.