This whole Mookie Betts trade has been nothing short of a pounding headache for the baseball connoisseur. Chaim Bloom and the Boston Red Sox supposedly agree to official terms with the Los Angeles Dodgers and pull out of the Minnesota Twins deal.
With the Red Sox being skeptical about Brudsar Graterol’s medical history, the Red Sox determined that Graterol would be better fit as a reliever and backed out of the deal. Original deal included the Red Sox obtaining Graterol and Verdugo, the Dodgers with Betts, Price and cash and Twins with Kenta Maeda. The reason why this fell through was because Graterol was projected to be a starter for the Red Sox and further review of his medical records showed he had Tommy John surgery in 2016 and shoulder problems in 2019. The Red Sox felt like they deserved more in the deal, which I highly agreed with. The reworked trade looks like this as now:
- Dodgers receive: Betts, Price, cash (from Red Sox) and Brusdar Graterol, 2020 Competitive Round B draft pick (from Twins)
- Red Sox receive: Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, Connor Wong (from Dodgers)
- Twins receive: Kenta Maeda, lower-level minor leaguer, cash (from Dodgers)
Personally, I’ll remain skeptical until Mookie Betts is in Dodger blue and playing outfield for the organization but this was a more reliable trade than the original. From my most recent blog before this, I openly showed doubt on the behalf of the Red Sox not getting a high prospect. The Red Sox walked away with two prospects and a power bat of Alex Verdugo.
Connor Wong:
The 23-year-old “catcher” is actually good everywhere on the field. He seems to be the poster boy of versatility. Believe it or not Wong is fairly new to the catcher position and is currently the Red Sox number one catching prospect. Wong has been seen in Red Sox colors before when he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in 2015. In college, Wong played shortstop, third base, and catcher. He also has played other positions in summer collegiate baseball as in, left field and has dabbled with pitching throwing over 90 mph on the hill.
Jeter Downs:
Yes, he is named after former New York Yankee Derek Jeter and his older brother, Jerry Downs, is a first baseman in the Red Sox organization. Jeter Downs is scouted mainly for his defense at shortstop, but has the potential to be a middle-infielder with some power at the plate. With Xander Bogaerts locked in at shortstop, hopefully Downs can be on the other side of a double play ball at second for the Red Sox, but will likely spend some time in the minors this season.
Alex Verdugo:
Verdugo had some experience with the Dodgers starting line-up and has played all three outfield positions with them. Verdugo started making his name after his 11th inning walk-off homerun against the Colorado Rockies during last year’s season. Verdugo has a cannon from the outfield as well, although he’s not Mookie Betts. Verdugo will be known as the player who will ‘replace’ Betts, which will bring a lot of scrutiny if he performs poorly, especially in the city of Boston.
UMass Student reactions:
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