The last couple of weeks were busy for Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman as he completed two separate trades, one of which was to acquire All-Stars Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox.
After the first reports of the deal came out, it took about five days to complete it as the Red Sox had concerns with former Minnesota Twins prospect Brusdar Graterol’s medicals. He was set to head to Boston in the three-team trade, but instead, the Dodgers added more prospects and took back Graterol for themselves in a separate trade with the Twins to get everything sorted out.
The Dodgers also had a reported second trade lined up that would have sent Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling to the L.A. Angels. However, that hinged on the completion of the trade with Boston and Minnesota being completed in its original form.
Despite Friedman still orchestrating deals with the Red Sox and Twins, the Angels one never went through as owner Arte Moreno reportedly withdrew from the agreement.
As it currently stands, Pederson and Stripling are both still members of the Dodgers organization and have reported to Camelback Ranch for Spring Training in preparation for the 2020 season.
“A lot was made publicly — some accurate and some not accurate — about different things that were out there,” Friedman said at the introductory press conference for Betts and Price at Dodger Stadium.
“Our thing was putting ourselves in the best position to acquire the two guys we acquired. That had a lot of different combinations and a lot of different things that were potentials. The way it ended up playing out, we’re happy with and excited about.
“Some of that information was correct, some was not, and it didn’t happen, so it’s hard to speak to it. But we feel really good about the way things played out and what our team looks like right now.”
The trade to send Pederson and Stripling to the Angels seemed to be salary-motivated, but with the Dodgers now comfortably above the luxury tax threshold, Friedman deemed it no longer necessary to shed payroll by dealing two players that can help the team win a World Series in 2020.
There is potential that Pederson still gets dealt considering he is in his final year before hitting free agency and the Dodgers have a crowded outfield, but manager Dave Roberts recently said he envisions a platoon between him and A.J. Pollock in left field, so it seems like they will ultimately hold onto him for now.
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