The proposed three-team blockbuster between the Red Sox, Dodgers and Twins appears to be in some jeopardy.
According to a Saturday afternoon report from the Star Tribune, Minnesota is prepared to withdraw from the trade after clashing with Boston over possible additional compensation. The Twins and Red Sox are locked in a dispute regarding the medical records belonging to right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol.
Minnesota and Graterol’s agent, Scott Boras, insist the [...]
The proposed three-team blockbuster between the Red Sox, Dodgers and Twins appears to be in some jeopardy.
According to a Saturday afternoon report from the Star Tribune, Minnesota is prepared to withdraw from the trade after clashing with Boston over possible additional compensation. The Twins and Red Sox are locked in a dispute regarding the medical records belonging to right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol.
Minnesota and Graterol’s agent, Scott Boras, insist the 21-year-old has been fully cleared and would be capable of working as a starting pitcher as soon as the 2020 season. Boston’s eyebrows were raised by a further look at Graterol’s history, which includes Tommy John surgery in 2015 and a two-month shutdown in 2019 due to a right shoulder impingement. Profiling Graterol as a reliever would decrease his value, and the Red Sox were said to be seeking at least one more prospect from the Twins.
Hanging in the balance, of course, is the immediate future of two prominent Boston players. Mookie Betts and David Price were ticketed for Los Angeles in the deal, with the Red Sox trading away a cornerstone piece and a serviceable left-handed starter. Betts figures to break the bank on the free agent market in 2021 while the 34-year-old Price could use the warmer weather, pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium and thinner National League lineups to author a personal renaissance.
This was set to be the first major transaction for Boston chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, as his acquisition of Graterol and outfielder Alex Verdugo from the Dodgers also included squeezing Boston under the Competitive Balance Tax. The Red Sox were set to shed upwards of $45 million on the remaining three years of Price’s deal and all of the $27 million due to Betts for his final arbitration campaign in 2020. Boston’s total payroll for the upcoming season would drop near $190 million, comfortably below the first CBT threshold of $208 million.
The Boston Globe said the Red Sox and Los Angeles could continue to work towards a two-team resolution, but that figures to require significant reworking in terms of prospects returning to Boston and cash pledged by the Dodgers to pay Price. Los Angeles was already retaining almost all of its deep prospect base including infielder Gavin Lux, right-hander Dustin May, catcher Keibert Ruiz and infielder Jeter Downs. MLB.com said Minnesota was most likely to withdraw from any further talks but had yet to formally do so.
News of the deal leaked Tuesday night, and Boston’s medical concerns regarding Graterol began to surface as the week continued. Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, issued a statement Friday urging all three teams to find an immediate resolution.
“The events of this last week have unfairly put several players’ lives in a state of limbo,” Clark said. “The unethical leaking of medical information as well as the perversion of the salary arbitration process serve as continued reminders that too often players are treated as commodities by those running the game.”
The delayed completion of the trade has affected other pending transactions involving the Dodgers, Twins and Angels. Los Angeles was set to send right-hander Kenta Maeda to Minnesota and had also struck a four-player deal with its Southern California neighbor. Outfielder Joc Pederson, right-hander Ross Stripling and outfield prospect Andy Pages were headed for the Angels while infielder Luis Rengifo was returning to the Dodgers.
Pederson, Stripling, Pages and Rengifo all remain with their respective teams. Los Angeles will not part with Pederson until it has Betts safely in the fold. The Dodgers would become betting co-favorites with the Yankees to win the World Series, something the franchise hasn’t accomplished since 1988.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25