c/o latimes.com
In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. In 1919, the team failed to repeat as champions and had a mediocre year. Before the 1920 season, the Red Sox traded away their best player because of the owner’s selfishness when it came to finances. Today, it is still condemned as one of the worst trades, not only in baseball, but the history of North American sports. It put a curse over the Red Sox, and they did not win another World Series for 86 years. Wait… Sorry. Did I say 1918? I meant 2018. The aforementioned trade of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees was awful in its own right, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the trade of Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. Funny how history repeats itself.
On Feb. 10th, the Red Sox traded right-fielder Mookie Betts and left-handed pitcher David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo, and prospects Connor Wong and Jeter Downs. The Red Sox drafted Mookie Betts in the 5th Round of the 2011 MLB Draft, and after only two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his debut in 2014. Since then, Betts has become a 4-time All-Star, winning 4 Rawlings Gold Glove awards and 3 Silver Slugger Awards. He also took home the 2018 MVP en route to leading the Red Sox to a 108-win season and a World Series Championship, ironically, against the Dodgers. In 2018, he became the first player in baseball history to win a batting title, gold glove, silver slugger, MVP, and the World Series in the same season. He was the face of the franchise. He was the cornerstone piece that would be batting leadoff for the next decade. At least that was the idea.
At the end of the 2020 season, Betts is set to be a free agent, and he plans to hit the open market. With $300 million contracts handed out all over the league, Mookie could reasonably assume a huge payday was in his future. The Red Sox offered him a 10-year $300 million dollar extension this past off-season, and Betts countered with 12-years $420 million. The only player in the league whose contract currently exceeds $400 million dollars is Mike Trout, who, when it’s all said and done, might be the greatest baseball player of all time. Instead of negotiating with their homegrown star, the Red Sox simply shipped him off across the country so they could shed payroll.
The Boston Red Sox should never care about payroll.
In both 2018 and 2019, the Red Sox spent north of $200 million dollars on salary, but now ownership is hell-bent on getting below that figure, and not paying luxury tax. Why try to win a World Series and keep the best player the franchise has seen in 60 years when it would cost money? It is an argument that is devoid of logic. The Red Sox are one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world and a de facto public institution in Boston. In 2018 they raked in over half a billion dollars. They are a cash cow, but still have the audacity to complain about spending money.
There are a lot of numbers I could throw out, like Betts’ 10.9 WAR in 2018 (the greatest single-season ever by an active player), his career .301 batting average and even the fact that he’s led the league in runs scored each of the last two years. However, even those gaudy numbers don’t fully capture Mookie’s importance. Baseball is different than the other major sports. For 6 months out of the year, there is a game almost every day, a consistency that you can always look forward to. No matter how great or how terrible a day I just had, I knew I could sit down and see Mookie Betts penciled in at the top of the order. It’s an emotional bond different than any other sport. There’s too many players in football and they all wear helmets, in basketball players switch teams so often you’re a fool to get attached to them. In baseball, the players are always there for you, which makes their departure so heartbreaking.
I’m devastated. I know that’s crazy to say, but I don’t know how else to put it. I’m grieving at his departure. He’s been my favorite athlete (sorry Tom Brady and Jayson Tatum) for my entire adolescence, and now he’s gone, just because the Red Sox owner, John Henry, was cheap? Maybe he cares more about Liverpool’s undefeated season or any of his other business endeavors to realize what he’s doing. He traded the best Red Sox player since Ted Williams in a salary dump, in exchange for an outfielder with a broken back, a middling catching prospect, and a shortstop named Jeter. I can’t think of a worse trade. I had a serious thought that I might give up the Red Sox and become a Mets fan this year. THE METS! How down-and-out must a person be to choose to become a Mets fan!?
I root for the Red Sox, not John Henry’s profit margins. But, unfortunately, I know which one John Henry cares more about. Maybe I’m naive, but I thought that keeping your best players matters. Betts is only 27, put him next to All-Star Shortstop Xander Boegarts and 24 year old Third Baseman Rafael Devers, and that’s a heart of the order that can compete for the next 10 years. Why wouldn’t you do this? I guess you can put a price on winning, and it’s the $40 million dollar luxury tax.
In 1920, the Boston Red Sox sent their best player, Babe Ruth, down to New York to play for the Yankees. In exchange, the Red Sox received $25,000, which owner Harry Frazee used to pay off Fenway Park’s mortgage. For the next 86 years the Red Sox were cursed by the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees. In 2020, the Red Sox still play at Fenway, but have just sent away their best player to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” I can’t think of a rhyme for 86 years, but I know the Red Sox would be lucky if their next drought is only that short.
Rocky D’Antonio can be reached at rdantonio@wesleyan.edu.