Chaim Bloom Explains Reason Behind Trading Mookie Betts, David Price To Dodgers

The Boston Red Sox have sent two stars to the west coast in a monumental trade.

Mookie Betts and David Price were traded to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs, the team confirmed Monday night.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom explained the decision in a press conference in Fort Myers, Fla., on Monday night, as seen on NESNplus.

“(Mookie) is a great, great player and … it’s never fun in a sense to have that sort of player on your team and then do something where you trade him. But the big picture and how this fits into our chances to win over the next number of years, that had to take precedence and you can’t be afraid to do something that is right in the big picture,” Bloom said.

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner echoed those notions in a statement released by the team Monday night, calling the trade “difficult” but “necessary” for the team’s future.

“Ultimately, we believe that this will set us up for sustained long-term success,” Werner wrote. “I want to express our enormous thanks to Mookie and David for the impact they had on our club and our community.”

The Red Sox kick off the regular season on March 26.