After a long week of twists and negotiating, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally were able to come to a new agreement with the Boston Red Sox on a trade to acquire Mookie Betts and David Price.
The deal was originally agreed to on Tuesday, and was set to be a three-team trade with the Minnesota Twins, who would send pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol — along with Alex Verdugo from the Dodgers — to Boston.
An issue with Graderol’s medicals, combined with media reaction, led to the Red Sox putting the trade on hold and demanding more in return for their former MVP and Cy Young Award winner. After four more days of negotiating, the three teams were finally able to close the deal, although not in its original form.
The Dodgers are sending prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong, along with Verdugo to the Red Sox, and they then are acquiring Graderol, a familiar face in Luke Raley and draft pick from Minnesota for Kenta Maeda and cash in a separate trade.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers had another trade in place with the L.A. Angels that involved Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling, although that was contingent on the Boston deal being completed. Since it what not completed in its original form, however, the Dodgers’ trade with the Angels reportedly fell through on Sunday afternoon.
While they may ultimately hold on to Stripling, it appears L.A. is still attempting to find a trade partner for Pederson and his $7.75 million contract, via Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports:
The #Dodgers are planning to put outfielder Joc Pederson back on the trade block with the #Angels appearing to be the ones who pulled out of the original deal.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 10, 2020
In the midst of all of this trade talk, Pederson was dealing with his arbitration case, which he ultimately lost after having his request to delay the hearing denied. He is in his final year of club control and with the acquisition of Betts, looks like he is the odd man out in a crowded outfield.
Pederson is coming off a career year in which he batted .249/.339/.538 with career highs in home runs (36), runs scored (83) and RBI (74) over 149 games. Teams should have interest in the 27-year-old, but with Spring Training just around the corner, timing may not be right for the Dodgers to complete a deal.
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