10 worst Boston Red Sox trades in team history
By Tim Boyle
3) Worst Red Sox trade: Mookie Betts to the Dodgers
It’s not too soon to declare this trade a disaster. Trading Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers is fresh in everyone’s minds. Rather than look to extend the star outfielder prior to reaching free agency, the Red Sox unloaded him and David Price in a deal to Los Angeles.
Betts has been exactly as advertised as a member of the Dodgers. There is no need to go into specific numbers. While not quite up to par with his Red Sox performance, who wouldn’t want him in Boston for life?
The badness of trades requires a little more than what the star accomplishes. Aside from playing well and helping the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series, this trade looks horrible for Boston for what they got back.
Jeter Downs, Connor Wong, and Alex Verdugo is the package of players the Red Sox received from the Dodgers in this move. Downs is already gone following a December 2022 waiver claim. Wong has some hope left in him but the clock is ticking on him ever being more than a backup or platoon catcher. Then there’s Verdugo who has played well for Boston but nowhere near the same scale as Betts.
The Betts trade does have some shades of the blockbuster that sent Carl Crawford and others to the Dodgers in a salary dump. The difference is the Red Sox won the World Series a year later. Since Betts left, they haven’t had the same luck.