With the Major League Baseball trade deadline just a week away, all eyes are on the Los Angeles Angels and their two-way star, Shohei Ohtani.
The Angels are caught in a difficult situation as they must decide whether to trade Ohtani or risk losing him in free agency this winter.
The Angels’ chances of making the postseason are slim, making it likely that they won’t be able to retain Ohtani when he becomes a free agent.
To avoid losing him without any compensation, the team is considering trading him for a package of younger players before the deadline.
However, history has shown that trading star players doesn’t always guarantee a positive outcome. The Boston Red Sox can serve as a cautionary tale, as they traded Mookie Betts in a deal that yielded mixed results.
In 2020, the Red Sox traded Betts, along with pitcher David Price, to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins in a three-team swap. The return for Betts included outfielder Alex Verdugo, catcher Connor Wong, and infield prospect Jeter Downs.
While Downs didn’t pan out and was later lost on waivers, Verdugo and Wong have been valuable contributors, combining for 10.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations.
Meanwhile, Betts has excelled with the Dodgers, accumulating 10.9 WAR since Opening Day 2022 and 18.5 overall.
Reflecting on his trade from Boston, Betts expressed his desire to have stayed with the Red Sox in a recent interview on the “Foul Territory” online show.
He stated: “I wanted to stay in Boston my whole career.. That was my life. I knew everybody there. It was perfect.”
Betts revealed that he would have accepted a long-term deal with the Red Sox, matching the terms of his current 12-year, $365 million contract with the Dodgers.
Unfortunately, the opportunity for such an extension never materialized.
While the Betts situation offers valuable insights, it’s essential to acknowledge that each player’s circumstances and motivations differ. Ohtani has repeatedly expressed his goal of winning a World Series, and this aspiration is likely to influence his decision-making process.
With Ohtani attracting interest from numerous teams, he may see other franchises as having better chances to achieve that ultimate goal than the Angels, who have struggled to reach the postseason with him on their roster.
The Red Sox organization has been under a lot of heat from Boston fans for being cheap and not investing full-heartedly into the team.
Their current ways are a far cry from how the franchise used to be run, back when Owner John Henry was fully interested in winning.
Betts admitting that he never wanted to leave Boston is undoubtedly salt in the wound for fans who were hoping he’d be a Sox for life.