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.
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
