In February of 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers saw an opportunity to give their franchise a significant upgrade, and they took it. The Boston Red Sox were facing the possibility of losing 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts to free agency after that season, and rather than meet Betts’ hefty price tag, they went looking for a trade partner. They found one in the Dodgers.
The Dodgers offered the Red Sox their No. 1 prospect, outfielder Alex Verdugo, as well as their No. 8 and No. 14 prospects â infielder Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong, respectively â and the Red Sox took the offer, shipping Betts to the west coast in a move that enraged Red Sox fans but was designed to build for the future.
The deal was a franchise-defining one for the Dodgers. Despite winning their division seven straight years and making the playoffs in 11 of their previous 16 seasons, the Dodgers had not won a World Series since 1988. Since the Betts trade they won two â first in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Betts’ debut season in Los Angeles.
Then the Dodgers won again last season, vanquishing the New York Yankees in five games.
Betts’ Production Hits Career Low Point
For the Red Sox, things haven’t worked out quite as well, with just one playoff appearance in 2021 surrounded by three last-place finishes in the AL East before a third-place, 81-81 season in 2024.
As for the prospects, only Wong remains with the Red Sox, but after a career-high OPS of .758 in 2024, the catcher has gone back to futility this season with just 13 hits in 87 at-bats. Verdugo is currently without a team after being released by the Atlanta Braves, and Downs is playing for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of Japan’s Pacific League.
While it is fair to say that the Dodgers do not regret the trade for Betts, they may be wondering about the wisdom of signing him to a 12-year, $365 million contract extension in July of 2020, before Betts had the chance to test the free agent market.
Betts by his own admission has fallen off the table this year, enduring his worst season as a Major League player.
Betts started the season by losing 20 pounds due to a severe stomach illness. Then in May he broke a toe in a household accident. He has also been forced to adjust to a full-time shortstop role after primarily playing the outfield since he broke in with the Red Sox in 2014.
Manager Dave Roberts Makes Betts Benching Decision
Perhaps for those and other reasons, Betts has managed just a career-low .688 OPS. Over his most recent 20 games, Betts has an OPS of just .526 with a .195 batting average and 15 strikeouts against only one walk.
On Saturday, manager Dave Roberts announced that he had decided to send Betts to the bench â with seven years to go on his contract. Though Roberts said his “expectation” was that Betts would return on Sunday, the 10th-year Dodger skipper did not commit to a date for his struggling eight-time All-Star to play again.
“I donât know how long itâs going to be,” Roberts said, as quoted by MLB.com. “I think for me, itâs going to be a day-to-day thing. Itâs going to be my decision on how I feel he is mentally to take on that nightâs starter.”
After Friday’s 2-0 shutout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles had dropped eight of its last 10 games.
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