Remember Mookie Betts?
OK, that’s dumb and hacky. Sorry. The joke there is that there was a time when the Mookie Betts trade rumors and speculation were THE THING, but then it got really quiet after the prospect of giving up a whole lot for one year of Betts at $30 million-ish proved less palatable than Boston was hoping. Also, can I just say? It doesn’t help when your owner was basically out there saying the team has to get under the luxury tax. In that environment, of course trade partners are going to hold the Red Sox’s feet to the fire in trade talks, because they are “taking a big contract off your hands.” Terrible position to be in. (Take notes, Cubs.)
Well, after weeks of silence on the Betts front, he’s back, and it’s a bit of an odd one:
If the #Dodgers can’t get Cleveland #Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, they have their eye on #Red Sox star OF Mookie Betts in preliminary talks. https://t.co/2FAcwXiaNi
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 17, 2019
There are a few things odd about the idea that the Dodgers would turn to Betts as a fallback in their efforts to acquire Francisco Lindor:
If the Dodgers are simply dead set on adding a big-time offensive piece for 2020, then it stands to reason that all three of these guys – the three superstars that have reportedly been on the block since the start of the offseason – would be considered by the Dodgers. In that respect, I suppose nothing should be considered surprising. Moreover, having missed out on a few free agent targets, the Dodgers should have plenty of budgeted payroll allotted to take on any of these guys.
As is always the case with these situations, you have to wonder about who is putting it out there and why. Unfortunately, here’s a reality check: most of the time, there’s so much going on behind the scenes that we *don’t* know about that it is very hard to even intelligently speculate on the subterfuge involved in a rumor like this. For example, what if the Diamondbacks (replete with former Red Sox execs and a need in the outfield) were actually trying to land Betts, and this rumor is being pushed out there by the Red Sox to put pressure on the Diamondbacks? We have no idea about that kind of thing, which – if we did – would completely re-sculpt the way we think about this rumor.
You could also contend this is the Dodgers’ way of putting pressure on the Cubs if the Dodgers *were* in on Bryant, but again, that’s almost entirely pure speculation.
It’s useful to think about rumors in this way – as a check on yourself – but you won’t always be able to land anywhere. So you’re just left with the rumor, itself: maybe the Dodgers just really, really want to push in for 2020, and they don’t much care how they do it, specifically. Lindor? Betts? Bryant? Whatever.