Kevin McNamara: Red Sox fans are the losers in Betts deal

It must feel real good to be a Boston Red Sox season ticket holder right about now.

The Sox hit their most faithful fans as hard as anyone in baseball with one of the highest average ticket prices in the game. New England baseball fans also get whacked with $30-50 parking fees, pay $12 for an average beer and sit in seats that are too tight for most middle-aged men.

For this Sox fans are guaranteed to cheer for a franchise that’s always all-in, paying top dollar for [...]

It must feel real good to be a Boston Red Sox season ticket holder right about now.

The Sox hit their most faithful fans as hard as anyone in baseball with one of the highest average ticket prices in the game. New England baseball fans also get whacked with $30-50 parking fees, pay $12 for an average beer and sit in seats that are too tight for most middle-aged men.

For this Sox fans are guaranteed to cheer for a franchise that’s always all-in, paying top dollar for elite talent and doing what it takes to challenge for chances at a World Series every season.

Well scratch that. Those were the good old days. Something very different is on display now at Fenway Park and it sure isn’t good for the 2020 Red Sox team.

Late Tuesday night the Sox agreed in principle to trade the best home grown player its challenged minor league system has produced in a decade or two in Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The front office, led by owners John Henry and Tom Werner, apparently decided that Betts would not accept their best offer to avoid free agency after the upcoming season. We do not know what that last/best multi-year contract offer was but Betts is clearly thinking he’s a $35 million (or so) a year talent.

The Red Sox apparently weren’t keen on keeping Betts through his walk year. Either that or they don’t deem the former MVP and four-time gold glove outfielder a $300 million-plus player, someone that could one day see his number hanging in right field alongside Williams, Yaz and Big Papi.

That's a judgment call so instead of risking losing Betts next winter, the Sox chose to cut the cord now and re-stock their anemic farm system with a few choice prospects, right? Yes, but make that very few.

The Red Sox plan is to "replace" Betts with Alex Verdugo, a 24-year old who was a utility outfielder for the Dodgers a year ago — Verdugo, who hit .294 with 12 home runs and a .342 on base percentage. Those are somewhat similar numbers to what Andrew Benintendi put up in 2019, a season where all sorts of red flags shot up over his future. The Sox also planned to add Brusdar Graterol, a 21-year old who pitched in 10 games out of the Twins bullpen last season, owns a high 90’s fastball and could pitch at Fenway as early as this season. That part of the trade is being given another look as the Red Sox became concerned with Graterol's medical review.

The return for Betts was minimized by not only his pending free agency but the fact that this wasn’t a Mookie-only move. This was a money move, or a money-saving move. The team with billionaire owners and the high-priced tickets says it needs to pull back on player salaries, at least for now.

In order to do that the Red Sox convinced the Dodgers to take on more than half of the bloated contract of pitcher David Price. Now Price may be a prickly, overpaid blowhard but he also is probably the team’s best starting pitcher right now and is under contract for three more seasons.

But when Henry and Werner hired Chaim Bloom everyone knew of an edict to shrink payroll well below MLB’s $208 million Competitive Balance Tax threshold. The Sox say they need to do this to avoid the luxury tax, re-set their payroll to receive a full revenue sharing check from MLB and avoid penalties in the amateur draft.

This trade saves the Sox about $45 million in payroll this season and drops the team’s 2020 total to near $190 million. In one fell swoop, Bloom followed the orders of Henry/Werner and also extinguished any of the flickering hopes that the Sox could contend with the Yankees and other well-stocked teams in 2020.

Don’t look for any current Red Sox to bless this deal. J.D. Martinez and Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts want to win now and could care less about Henry/Werner’s millions. Bloom and his bosses have hit the re-set button, hoping to take a giant step or two backwards before putting another World Series caliber lineup on the field.

That may be how Bloom operated in Tampa as a lieutenant with the always financially-struggling Rays, but this is Boston. Fans pay big bucks here to genuflect at Fenway Park every summer but that only goes so far. They also expect a winner for their $140 box seats and $40 parking spots and trading Betts and Price marks a business decision that guarantees nothing in on-field success.

kmcnamar@providencejournal.com