More conflicting reports on mega-deal between Sox, Dodgers, and Twins
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BOSTON, MA – June 4: The Minnesota Twins logo is seen during the fifth inning of the game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 4, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
One day after MLBPA executive director Tony Clark urged a resolution in the multi-team trade that’d send Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Minnesota Twins are doing exactly that and reportedly backing out of the deal entirely.
The #mntwins are pulling out of the megadeal and will keep Brusdar Graterol, reports @LaVelleNeal https://t.co/RAQFWw0tWv pic.twitter.com/d8Mk3F1lX9
— Chris Miller (@Cmillstrib) February 8, 2020
According to Neal, the Twins were already ‘pessimistic’ about their end of the deal that’d send Betts and Price to LA, Alex Verdugo and Brusdar Graterol to the Red Sox, and Kenta Maeda to the Twins. And that pessimism led to the Twins’ decision to ‘dig in’ on Saturday, refusing to give the Red Sox any additional prospects to complete the deal to their satisfaction.
For Boston, the demands for more from the Twins came after a failed physical and some suspect medicals on Graterol, who reportedly projects as more of a reliever than a starter after going through Tommy John surgery. You could make the case that the Twins were never exactly hiding from that long-term projection, as members of their organization said as much to the local media as recently as September. Given their honest and the Twins’ return compared to the Dodgers (the second-best player in baseball and a viable starter), it’s not hard to see why the Twins are digging in and refusing to appease the Sox’ demands.
If the Twins back out of the deal, the Red Sox and Dodgers will likely need to find a new third team, and that team will have to be interested in giving up a high-end pitching prospect (a starter based on what the Sox wanted with Graterol) and/or picking up Maeda (10-8 with a 4.04 ERA last season). Given how much that third team is losing — compared to the Dodgers and Sox, at least — it’s hard to imagine that coming easy for anybody.
But the report has also been met with a conflicting report, it would appear, as MLB insider Mark Feinsand noted that multiple sources have told him that the Twins are still interested in completing this deal.
Multiple sources say the Twins have not pulled out of the three-way trade, and are hoping for a resolution one way or another very soon. Talks still ongoing.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 8, 2020
Graterol, meanwhile, has been working at the Twins’ training complex, but hasn’t been made available to any media requests.