Cody Snavely
While the rest of America recovers from the conclusion of the National Football Season with the Philadelphia Eagles winning Super Bowl fifty-nine in blowout fashion, Major League Baseball is back with the Los Angeles Dodgers offically reporting to camp today in Glendale, Arizona.
However, today, February 10th, is the fifth anniversary of the infamous trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, sending all-star and 2018 American League Most Valuable Player Award winner Mookie Betts to Los Angeles.
In what was originally a three-team trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Minnesota Twins that wouldve sent 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner David Price, Mookie Betts, and significant cash considerations to Los Angeles, Alex Verdugo and young righty Bruadar Graterol to Boston along with Kenta Maeda to the Twins.
However, the deal would fall apart due to Graterol’s medicals, forcing the Dodgers to retool their original offer to complete the deal with Boston.
After a few days, the Dodgers would complete a separate trade with the Twins with Kenta Maeda, Jair Camargo, and cash considerations to Minnesota in exchange for Graterol, Luke Raley, and the No. 67 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. They used that selection on right-handed pitcher Clayton Beeter out of Texas Tech.
In the end, the Dodgers would send young outfielder Alex Verdugo, infield prospect Jeter Downs, and minor league catcher Connor Wong to the Red Sox in exchange for Mookie Betts, David Price, and cash considerations, completing the blockbuster deal.
The deal shocked the baseball world for many reasons, but the biggest was that Boston, one of the biggest teams in baseball, would trade Betts due to his unwillingness to seek an extension. Despite being the Red Sox’s best player and the face of the 2018 World Series-winning season, the club would move on in another direction.
For the Dodgers, the trade symbolized a team that was eager to get over the hump of falling short in October. Despite winning two National League pennants in 2017 and 2018, the Dodgers failed to move past the Washington Nationals in the 2019 National League Division Series despite winning a then franchise record 106 games.
All signs pointed to great things for Los Angeles in the upcoming 2020 season, with a team full of all-stars, MVPs, Cy Young Award winners, and players hungry for a championship; however, before the season could begin, the world stopped.
After putting all their chips in on the table, the 2020 regular season was nearly lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced all teams to shut down and regroup later in the summer.
After bickering between the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball, both sides agreed to a 60-game regular season with an expanded postseason, salvaging another season of Dodgers baseball.
Shortly before the start of the regular season in July, the Dodgers and Mookie Betts agreed to a massive 12-year, $365 million extension, keeping the all-star in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. As they say, the rest is history.
In his short five-year Dodgers career, Betts has a combined slash line of .284/.372/.530 with a .902 OPS, 145 OPS+, 132 home runs, 361 RBIs, three top-five National League Most Valuable Player Award finishes, four-time all-star selection, three-time Gold Glove Award winner, four-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and a combined 27.4 bWAR.
Most importantly, Betts has helped the Dodgers win two World Series winnings in his first year during the COVID-19 shortened season and, most recently, the 2024 World Series over the New York Yankees.
And while the Dodgers have continued to add superstar players such as Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani, this current championship run starts and ends with the acquisition of Mookie Betts, who is likely to end his Hall of Fame career with a Dodgers cap in Cooperstown. Thanks again, Boston!
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