Mookie Betts and David Price officially are headed for Los Angeles.
The Dodgers and Boston Red Sox on Sunday agreed to a trade that sent the All-Star outfielder, a former Cy Young winner and cash considerations to the West Coast in exchange for Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs. The trade comes five days after a three-team mega deal was agreed to with the Minnesota Twins, but concerns regarding Brusdar Graterol’s health — who Boston would have received from the Twins — reportedly held up the deal.
Boston and LA came to a deal Sunday night between the two of them, while the Twins and Dodgers reportedly worked out their own deal to send Kenta Maeda to Minnesota and Graterol to LA.
Here is the statement, provided by the Red Sox:
“Mookie and David have written chapters in our history that will last forever. They are special both on the field and off, and we are so grateful to them for the joy that they’ve brought to Red Sox Nation,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “Our overarching goal is to maintain a talent base that puts us in position to win as much as possible for years to come. That goal was front and center for us as we considered this trade. We have a talented major league roster, and we fully expect to compete for the postseason in 2020. By adding Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, and Connor Wong to the organization, we are in better position to sustain that competitiveness in the years ahead. We are excited to welcome all three of them to the Red Sox family.”
“David’s arrival in Boston paved the way for a historic chapter for the Red Sox,” owner John Henry added. “His presence at the top of our rotation was critical to winning three consecutive division championships, and his 2018 Postseason performance put both his talent and tenacity on full display. We appreciate what both Mookie and David brought to our club, and are grateful that they will forever be Red Sox World Series Champions.”
“Today’s trade illustrates the difficult decisions necessary to achieve our goal, which has remained unchanged since we became stewards of this franchise nearly two decades ago: to bring multiple World Series Championships to Boston,” said Chairman Tom Werner. “Ultimately, we believe that this will set us up for sustained long-term success. I want to express our enormous thanks to Mookie and David for the impact they had on our club and our community.”
“Both David and Mookie earned legendary status in Boston in 2018,” said President and CEO Sam Kennedy. “Mookie, becoming the only American League player to win a World Series, MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger in the same year, and David, with his memorable postseason run as the winning pitcher who clinched both the AL pennant and the club’s ninth World Series Championship. Their time in Boston will always be remembered as historic.”
