Dodgers: Padres Interest in Mookie Betts Questioned by MLB Insider
Ken Rosenthal and Jeff Passan have continued to provide the most accurate information this off-season and Rosenthal appears to be the hottest reporter for information regarding the Mookie Betts sweepstakes. The Dodgers and Padres are still the primary teams that are in on the Boston Red Sox star outfielder.
Rosenthal talked on the panel for MLB Network and went deep into what he believes will be the ultimate outcome of the Mookie Betts rumors: Betts to the Dodgers.
.@Ken_Rosenthal has the latest on the Mookie Betts trade rumors. #MLBTonight pic.twitter.com/UQ6WUpektb
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 3, 2020
Rosenthal still believes that the sweepstakes are a two-horse race:
“The teams we know are involved are the Dodgers and the Padres with entirely different motivations.”
Rosenthal went a bit further and examined the race between the NL West division rivals:
[adace-ad id=”118954″]“The Padres have had nine straight losing seasons. You might say, ‘why would the Padres want Mookie Betts for one year at $27 million. Well, one aspect of this would be to get rid of Wil Myers, who is owed $61 million over the next three years. They would be willing to pare off pieces of their top-ranked farm system to do that and get Mookie Betts with a chance to have a kind of breakout season that they have been waiting for for nearly a decade.”
Then the long-time reporter went into the Dodgers side of things:
“We know why the Dodgers are in. They are the NL West favorite right now without Mookie Betts, but if they get him, they could become potentially a World Series favorite. They have been looking all off-season for an impact player. Remember, they were deep on Gerrit Cole, bid $300 million, and didn’t get him. They are in a financial position and a position of strength with their farm system where they can make a big move. They only want to make a big move.”
Hearing Rosenthal put things into perfect perspective is awesome. The Padres and Dodgers have two very different motivations for trying to get a deal done and we will see who emerges as the winner.
NEXT: Rosenthal Says Mookie Betts Will Be Traded
Praying he ends up with padres?
Here is what Rosenthal actually said as I watched it last night when he was on MLB’s “Hot Stove”. He said this trade is “imminent” and according to his sources “will happen in the next two days.”
He said this only works for the Padres if they can get Boston to take Wil Myers 61 Million contract. They have to get rid of it because it handcuffs them financially as San Diego is not in a position to pay the luxury tax,
He said the Dodgers are “cleaner” than San Diego as they have the money and financial wherewithal to go over the cap and since they have been below the cap for two years in a row, they have reset the cap back to the minimum. He said Verdugo is still the centerpiece of this deal along with Jeter Downs, but Downs is not absolute. If the Dodgers have to take David Price and part of his still owed 92 million dollars, that could change the dynamic of the trade as Boston may not get as much value as they hoped. Right now Betts would cost the Dodgers 27 million for a one year rental, plus the loss of assets. Price would be an additional 30 million per year although Boston might have to keep as much as half of that on their books or about 46 million dollars.
Though Rosenthal made it sound like “today or tomorrow,” I am still thinking that there is a lot of loose ends that could hold this trade up or kill it altogether. The Dodgers don’t “have to have Betts” but Boston “has” to trade him or get much lesser value, more along the lines the Dodgers gave for Manny Machado, several low minor league farmhands, although Cuban outfielder Yusniel Diaz was included at the last minute.