Red Sox, Dodgers reportedly talking Mookie Betts trade
Oct 24, 2018; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts (left) reacts after scoring a run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning in game two of the 2018 World Series at Fenway Park. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers could be setting the stage for another blockbuster trade, as the sides have engaged in ‘exploratory’ trade talks centered around Mookie Betts, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
The talks seem to be a backup plan of sorts for the Dodgers, according to Nightengale, as Los Angeles has zeroed in on the Indians’ Francisco Lindor as their “top priority.” He also said that the Red Sox are more inclined to move Betts, who has just one more year of team control on the books, via trade than the Indians are with Lindor.
Nightengale goes on to note that the Dodgers have included shortstop Corey Seager in trade talks, while teams have been enamored with the potential of adding catcher Will Smith or shortstop prospect Gavin Lux in any trade with LA. Smith, a first-round pick in 2016, hit 16 homers and knocked in 42 runs in 54 games last season. Lux, meanwhile, is another first-round pick (20th overall in 2016) who got his feet wet at the big league level this past season.
The rumors simply continue what’s already been a busy offseason in the rumor mill for first-year Sox executive Chaim Bloom, as the team is clearly trying to cut payroll from the 2020 books, with David Price (due $96 million over the next three years) also on the trade block, and with Chris Sale’s coming up at various points, according to some.
The 27-year-old Betts has spent his entire MLB career with the Red Sox, winning an American League MVP award in 2018, along with four Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger awards, over his six-season run in Boston.
