The Debacle
Anyone who has not been living under a rock knows about the Redsox Dodger Trade Debacle. The Red Sox traded David Price and Mookie Betts to the Dodgers and paid half of Price s salary, while the Dodgers sent Kenta Maeda to the Twins and the Twins were to send flamethrower Brusdar Graterol back to the Red Sox. In a separate move, the Dodgers will send Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling
Anyone who has not been living under a rock knows about the Redsox – Dodger Trade Debacle. The Red Sox traded David Price and Mookie Betts to the Dodgers and paid half of Price’s salary, while the Dodgers sent Kenta Maeda to the Twins and the Twins were to send flamethrower Brusdar Graterol back to the Red Sox.
In a separate move, the Dodgers will send Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling to the Angels for infielder Luis Rengifo and two other prospects. None of that has been formally announced, however. The Betts/Price trade is not yet official and the Pederson/Stripling trade has not been consummated either.
The media immediately crucified the Red Sox and said that Andrew Friedman had committed the greatest robbery in the history of baseball. It would appear that Red Sox Owner, John Henry then told Chaim Bloom (Cheif Baseball Officer of the Red Sox) that he needed to get more back in the deal. Thus… there is a stalemate!
Let’s not forget what John Henry said early in the offseason:
“We need to be under the CBT. That was something we’ve known for more than a year now.”
Then, a couple of months later, he denied he said what he said. I am sure that Bloom informed Henry of the trade and then when the media uproar started, Henry demanded more in return. I don’t know that for sure, but John Henry obviously is not always true to his word.
Tony Massarotti of 985theSportsHub.com wrote this about Bloom:
“All of this brings us back to Bloom, who was hired last fall to do what Dave Dombrowski did not – specifically, to formulate and execute a longer-term plan that actually has some vision. Sure, Dombrowski won a World Series here, but he generally did it with someone else’s prospects and someone else’s money. He wasn’t exactly an idea guy. Most any of us could have identified the players Dombrowski traded and traded for because they were all on a chart of the best players or prospects available. All he ever did was play the hits.”
I will blame John Henry for all this until I see evidence to the contrary. I think Chaim Bloom did what he thought was right and Henry intervened. We may never know. I don’t always agree with Tony Clark of the MLBPA, but when he weighed in on the Dodger – Redsox Trade Debacle, he was spot on:
“The proposed trades between the Dodgers, Red Sox, Twins, and Angels need to be resolved without further delay. The events of this last week have unfairly put several Players’ lives in a state of limbo.
The unethical leaking of medical information as well as the perversion of the salary arbitration process serve as continued reminders that too often Players are treated as commodities by those running the game.”
Scott Boras, who is Brusdar Graterol’s agent says this:
“They’re relying on a cursory medical record review, yet noted orthopedic doctors who saw him say there’s no issue going forward.”
Again, consider the source.
The Dodgers are indeed upset, as they felt they had an agreement with Boston and the Twins. Angels owner Arte Moreno is said to be furious that the hold-up of the first deal has left his organization in flux . Maybe Commissioner Manfred can’t do anything about this, but when punishment needs to be handed down for the alleged cheating, his hand needs to be heavier!
Bob Nightengale predicted that the trade would become official yesterday. As usual, he was wrong. The Red Sox are demanding anther Top 10 Twins prospect and of course, the Twins are balking. That means that the Dodgers may have to cough up a Top Prospect, such as Tony Gonsolin.
If I were Andrew Friedman, I would walk. See you later, Bye! Leave the Red Sox to their misery and sign Betts after the season. Refuse to deal with the Cheaters, Andrew! They are still at it…
Other Dodger News
- The Dodgers defeated Joc Pederson is salary arbitration, successfully arguing that he was a platoon player.
- After signing Max Muncy to an extension, that can keep him in LA for four more years, the Dodgers also extended Chris Taylor, buying out his last two years of arbitration.
- I will be in Phoenix next Thursday and Friday when Pitchers and Catchers Report but may not have time to stop by Camelback as I am at the Arizona Cannabis Expo. It’s just business… really!
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Discussion (72)
Disagree, not disagreeable
If this trade does not go through as originally negotiated, then I do not see how this trade gets resurrected. AF did a masterful job of keeping any of the top prospects out of the deal and for Boston to now come back and want more, AF should tell them good luck with Price and Betts. Sure I would love to have Betts on LAD, but if the the consolation prize is they get to keep Alex Verdugo, not a bad fallback option. Of course Boston now wants the Dodgers to throw in Tony Gonsolin or Josiah Gray, and AF should hang up.
Why would Minnesota pay more for Maeda than Graterol? To help Boston get better? If Boston wants more from Minnesota, then it is easy for the Twins to walk away and look elsewhere.
Or perhaps they could still follow through with the Maeda for Graterol as a standalone trade. Maeda helps Minnesota this year, and Graterol could become that closer the Dodgers are looking for.
I think it also makes sense for AF to complete the Joc to LAA trade. Joc has been a good Dodger and teammate. He would get his chance to show what he can do as a full-time RF against all pitching. If he is successful, then he will be rewarded more handsomely next year as a FA. Champ gets to spend time with Albert Pujols. Rengifo becomes the LAD 2021 version of Kike’ Hernandez.
The 2020 team is not quite as deep, but all of the prospects are still intact potentially for that Ace come trade deadline.
Open the vault next year for Mookie. Hopefully that QO offer goes away with penalties coming down for the Boston cheating scandal, and they get nothing for Mookie.
Stripling stays a Dodger.
Twins are (rightfully) done with Boston’s bullshit. Looks like the deal has fallen apart.
Pads just traded Margot and a prospect to the Rays for Emilio Pagan. He would have made a nice addition to our pen. On the other hand, this will now be his fourth team in four years, so…………………………
I remember a scene from the very good movie “Croupier,” where a player in the casino tries to sneak in a late bet on the roulette wheel when he thinks he knows where it will land. The croupier says calmly that the bet was late. The player strenuously objects. People at the table say the bet was late. The player starts yelling and threatening. The manager comes over, tells the croupier to pay the player his claimed winnings, and then takes him aside and politely says that he can never play at this casino again.
That is apparently a practice at the better gambling places. Do not argue with a player, unless it is for a very large amount. Let him win his argument, get him out of there, and make sure he cannot come back. Now, this situation is not all that analogous, but it is not completely dissimilar. If this deal completely falls apart, we lose Betts for this season; we have a bunch of disgruntled players like Verdugo and Joc and Maeda coming back; if we keep the Angels part of it, we have made a rather imbalanced deal on its own.
So maybe the smartest course is to concede a bit, give Boston a little more, and the finish the deal? I don’t know what the “little more” would be, but I would rather see us consummate this, then have it all blow up, and then have some players who are not happy, and also have no Betts. After that, like the casino, we will never deal with Boston again, and other owners and GMs will realize that they are not to be trusted. They are not going to think, ‘Well, that Boston was sure smart, look what they got by getting out of the first deal.” They will think that they don’t want to deal with them. I know that this goes against the grain of some people, but it might be the smarter thing to swallow our pride somewhat, and finish the deal. As an attorney, I have had this experience, and I am sure most of you have, too, in your profession. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the Dodgers will make a higher offer, but it might actually be the better course, even if we are angry about them reneging. I don’t like the idea of all of our players coming back here, not being happy, and us not having gotten the superstar player that we thought we had obtained.
Agree 100% with Mark about setting a bad precedent by caving into lying, cheating bullies. I made the same point earlier in this thread when I said that it was a bad precedent to reward unethical behavior. No way that the low lives from Boston should receive more than was originally agreed to because of their reprehensible behavior. If necessary, the Dodgers may have to bite the bullet, and walk away from this deal. In the long run they will benefit.