David Price suggests slumping Red Sox could trade stars in drastic fire sale
By Sean Penney
Trading Betts is a different story. He’s a 26-year old generational talent and the reigning MVP. While the Red Sox could command a king’s ransom for the superstar outfielder, they’ll never get fair value for him. You don’t deal quality for quantity when the quality player has the chance to become one of the best in franchise history. This Red Sox roster may have its flaws but they don’t have enough holes to warrant trading away Betts to plug them.
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It would be difficult to justify how trading Betts makes the Red Sox better unless the player they are getting in return is named Mike Trout (spoiler alert: that’s not happening).
Betts will hit free agency after the 2020 season. There’s some concern amongst the fanbase that the Red Sox will let him slip away so they might as well trade him now when his value is at its peak. Why? This ownership group has proven that it’s willing to pay a premium for elite talent. Betts may seek to raise the bar for free agent position players when he hits the market but the Red Sox should be willing to pay him. Trading away other high-priced players makes it more likely they can afford a mega-deal for Betts, it’s not a reason to throw him into the fire sale.
Unless the relationship between Betts and the Red Sox takes a horrible turn for the worse, the MVP is off the table in trade talks. Betts has never given any indication that he wants out and there’s no reason to believe that will change regardless of how this season goes.