Red Sox trading Mookie Betts is worse than Patriots losing Tom Brady

What hurts the most

There’s no denying that Brady has had the more accomplished career. He’s the GOAT and nobody can compare to what he’s meant to the Patriots over the last two decades.

I still believe that it hurts more to lose Betts. Perhaps not from an emotional standpoint but as far as the ramifications this will have on the team’s future, the Mookie trade is the worst thing that has happened to a Boston franchise this year.

It boils down to where they are in their respective careers. Betts is a 27-year-old in his prime while Brady turns 43 before the start of the next NFL season. Brady plans to play until he’s 45 but the end is near for the former Patriots QB. At best, we could have held on to Brady for a few more years as his skills inevitably eroded. Father Time remains undefeated for a reason. The Red Sox could have locked up Betts for at least a decade with the majority of that span falling during the peak of his career.

The future of the Patriots is uncertain but they still have the greatest mind in football as their architect. We should assume Bill Belichick has a plan because he always does. In Bill we trust. The Red Sox front office doesn’t generate the same level of blind trust. Belichick will always do what he believes is best for the team but Boston’s brass has proven they favor their wallets.

Brady said it best in his social media message – forever a Patriot. It’s how he’ll always be remembered, regardless of where he ends his career. Betts may one day be enshrined in Cooperstown but it’s far from certain that he’ll be wearing a Red Sox cap. His legacy has yet to be defined.

It’s unbearably painful for a city to lose a superstar of this caliber. Losing two of them in the span of a couple of months is a cruel twist of fate. Brady might be the most popular icon in Boston sports history and he’ll undoubtedly be missed. Losing him and the dynasty he created over a 20 year period is more traumatic but trading away Betts does more damage to the franchise. If you had to pick between the two, give me the five-tool player in his prime over the quarterback in his 40’s trying pry his window open a little longer.