A number of Major League Baseball players and prospects have been in a state of limbo this week as the wait continues on for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ three-team trade with the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins for Mookie Betts and David Price to be completed.
The reported deal would had Alex Verdugo and Twins prospect Brusdar Graterol heading to Boston, Kenta Maeda to Minnesota, and Betts and Price to L.A. The Dodgers also reportedly agreed to another trade with the L.A. Angels that would include Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling for a trio of prospects, but that hinges on the completion of the Betts trade.
The reason the trades haven’t gone through yet is because the Red Sox reportedly found an issue with Graterol’s medicals and are now asking for more in return.
While the Twins threatened to pull out of the deal altogether, the three sides are still in negotiation — even if it means moving forward in separate trades. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Red Sox were asking for another top 10 prospect from the Twins’ system in addition to Graterol:
Not accurate to say #MNTwins are out of three-team blockbuster, but the impasse continues, sources tell me and @DanHayesMLB. #RedSox want second top 10 prospect added to Graterol. MIN will not give that much up for #Dodgers’ Maeda.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2020
It appears that Graterol is not the only factor holding up the trade, however, as Red Sox ownership may have been influenced by the response to the trade:
Real question is what #RedSox want. #MNTwins could send Graterol and lesser prospect to #Dodgers, then LAD could flip Graterol and a better prospect to BOS. But some in talks sense that negative media reaction to Verdugo-Graterol return for Betts-Price gave BOS ownership pause.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2020
The Red Sox agreeing to a trade and then pulling out of it because of fan and media reaction would be unprofessional and could jeopardize teams’ willingness to deal with them in the future, which is why all parties remain optimistic that they will be able to sort through this.
It would be extremely difficult for these teams to bring back players that have already seen reports of being traded. Perhaps partly because of that, the Dodgers are likely to trade Maeda to the Twins for Graterol, and then complete a separate trade with the Red Sox.
With pitchers and catchers set to report to Spring Training in less than a week, it seems that a resolution on this debacle is just around the corner.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events and more!
