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Boston Red Sox: Remembering the worst trades in franchise history

By Drew Athans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1919: Babe Ruth poses outside the dugout for a photo, before a game in what looks like Griffith Stadium in Washington in 1919. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1919: Babe Ruth poses outside the dugout for a photo, before a game in what looks like Griffith Stadium in Washington in 1919. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – JULY 12: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning at Fenway Park on July 12, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – JULY 12: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning at Fenway Park on July 12, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Mookie Betts

You knew it was coming, didn’t you? While it’s still too early to make a final judgment on how badly the Red Sox lost on this trade, there’s no denying that they did lose. Mookie Betts had been the Red Sox right fielder from 2014-2019 and during that time blossomed into a true five-tool player, their best all-around homegrown guy since Carl Yastrzemski, and one of the top five players in the league.

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Coming off an MVP season (2018), a runner-up MVP season (2016), and a World Series victory (2018), Betts entered 2020 in the last year of his contract making $27 million. The Red Sox had lowballed him in extension offers for the last few seasons while Betts said he had every intention of getting to free agency.

Deciding to punt on the upcoming season, the Red Sox traded him and David Price to the Dodgers for Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. While Verdugo looks to be a promising young major league-ready player, he has a checkered past and is currently battling a back injury that ended his 2019 season in August.

Downs and Wong are intriguing prospects who are probably at least a year or two away from being ready for the big leagues.

The reason this was a bad trade was that: A) the Red Sox didn’t get nearly enough in return since they insisted on including Price in the deal and B) they didn’t get any pitching, which they desperately needed, in return. Regardless of how well Verdugo and the prospects pan out, the Red Sox lost this trade. That’s just a fact given that they traded a top-five player away for lesser talent.

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However, if Verdugo and one (or both) of Downs or Wong turn out to be pretty good, then that will take some of the sting away. If they end up being busts, though, this will go down as one of the Red Sox worst trades in history alongside the Bagwell and Ruth deals. The jury is still out on this one.

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