After a lengthy back-and-forth that made headlines this weekend, the Boston Red Sox have made the trade of Mookie Betts official. On Monday night in Fort Meyers, the Red Sox held a press conference with Chaim Bloom and Brian O’Halloran on hand to discuss the move. It is worth noting that no one from Red Sox ownership was on hand despite the magnitude of the trade.
The official deal? Betts, David Price and $48M in Price’s salary to the Dodgers in exchange for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, and Connor Wong. Matching up with what was reported on Sunday night.
“This trade is a very hard one to make but our mission, our charge as a department, is to win year in and year out,” said Chaim Bloom on Monday night.
Bloom referred to wanting to build a program that had sustainability and the trade assisting them in that effort. He also noted that the CBT was “not a major factor” in the trade itself.
“We think (competing) is realistic,” said Bloom on the roster. “What Mookie and David are capable of on the field is a lot. I think it is reasonable to expect we’re going to be worse without them, but we have real good talent coming back.”
Ultimately the main takeaway from this announcement was Bloom is focusing on the bigger picture. When asked if the Red Sox made another offer to Betts on a long-term deal he wouldn’t give specifics but did have this to say.
“I will say this generally when you have a star player approaching free agency you know it’s going to take a sizable commitment to keep him here,” said Bloom.
On the manager of the 2020 Boston Red Sox front, nothing official yet.
