After much deliberation over the last several days, Mookie Betts is officially heading to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team deal that includes the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Dodgers are acquiring Betts and starting pitcher David Price from the Red Sox in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo, shortstop prospect Jeter Downs and catching prospect Connor Wong. Pitcher Kenta Maeda is heading to the Minnesota Twins along with $10 million, while the Dodgers are also acquiring pitcher Brusdar Graterol, a competitive balance draft pick and a low-level prospect, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Betts, 27, is the true gem of this trade, and immediately gives the Los Angeles Dodgers a chance to capture a World Series title in 2020. The outfielder put up 6.6 fWAR last year, but is just a year removed from putting up over 10 fWAR. Betts comes with one more year of control before hitting the open market.
Price, 34, comes with three more years of team control, though as part of the deal the Red Sox are paying half of the remaining $96 million left on the contract. The last three years haven’t been vintage Price, though the pitcher has put up nearly five fWAR in the last two campaigns.
Verdugo, 23, is the big piece the Red Sox are acquiring in the deal. The outfielder appeared in 106 games for the Dodgers in 2019, and had 2.2 fWAR to go along with a 114 wRC+, .341 wOBA and .294/.342/.475 triple slash.
Downs, 21, was the No. 5 ranked prospect in the Dodgers system at the time of the trade. The middle infielder also ranked as the No. 87 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline. The Colombia native peaked in Double-A last year with the Dodgers.
Wong, 23, is an offense first catcher who was ranked as the Dodgers No. 28 prospect by MLB Pipeline at the time of the trade. Like Downs, he peaked in Double-A last year, and likely has a ceiling as a backup catcher or platoon piece unless he can improve his defense.
Maeda, 31, will get an opportunity to start for the Twins in 2020. Bouncing between starting and pitching out of the bullpen in 2019 for the Dodgers, Maeda put up 2.5 fWAR and will now join a Twins team who will seek a return to the postseason in 2020.
Graterol, 21, in the original inception of the trade, was headed to the Red Sox. Now, he will join the Dodgers. The flamethrower debuted for the Twins in 2019 and struck out 10 batters in 9.2 innings pitched. Graterol was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in Minnesota’s system at the time of the trade.
