How can Giants get a transcendent star like the Dodgers’ Betts?
The Boston Red Sox made a colossal mistake.
It didn’t take a heroic performance in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday for Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts to prove the Red Sox were fools for parting with him, but it certainly didn’t help Boston’s case that Betts looked like the best player in the world against the Tampa Bay Rays.
On the shoulders of Betts’ home run, two stolen bases and two runs scored, the Dodgers are three wins away from claiming their first World Series title in 32 years. An organization that has come so close in recent years is once again a few victories from history, and this time, it has an X-factor and one of the game’s elite two-way players leading the way.
As Red Sox fans lamented their franchise’s boneheaded cost- cutting measure to trade Betts over the offseason, Dodgers fans rejoiced and wondered how their organization could be so fortunate to acquire a player who has since signed a 12-year, $365 million deal to remain in Los Angeles into the 2030s.
When fans of the other 28 teams in baseball look at the Betts trade, they wonder, “How can we get our own version of Mookie?”
It’s possible no player — not even Angels superstar Mike Trout — has the type of game- changing abilities that belong to Betts, but one thing is certain: Owners and executives of baseball teams will continue to part with elite talent in trades that don’t make sense.
Good news, San Francisco Giants fans. Betts might not be walking through the door to the Oracle Park home clubhouse anytime soon, but when the Giants are ready to challenge the Dodgers atop the National League West again, there’s a decent chance they’ll find a top-tier player available via a trade.
No one knows exactly what the financial fallout from COVID-19 will look like across baseball, but it’s already ugly. Most franchises, including the Giants, have already laid off fulltime personnel and others such as the Chicago Cubs have taken drastic measures to gut their scouting departments.
Make no mistake, most baseball owners are not in dire financial situations because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the billionaires running sports teams have gained wealth over the last seven months. These people did not buy or inherit baseball teams because of their solid moral compasses, but rather because of their ruthless approach to running a business.
Feel however you want to feel about ownership, but understand that when given an opportunity to make a product more profitable and more efficient, most people who run baseball clubs are going to jump at the opportunity. The Red Sox decided long ago they were never going to pay Betts $365 million, so they traded him before the season instead of letting him walk in free agency at the end of it.
It seems insane, but other owners and executives will follow suit.
They may not have a player of Betts’ caliber to part with, but franchises around the league will look to move their elite players if they can’t get them to agree to team-friendly contract extensions before they’re set to hit free agency. And while most teams will shy away from adding a player who would require a $300 million-plus extension, the San Francisco Giants don’t need to be one of them.
The A’s have insisted they want star third baseman Matt Chapman to be a foundational player into the future, but who believes Oakland will actually lock up a player with the league’s fourth-highest combined bWAR (20.8) over the last four seasons?
The Indians have already balked at the idea of keeping shortstop Francisco Lindor around unless he signs a team-friendly deal, so it’s possible Cleveland will make one of the game’s transcendent middle infielders available as soon as this offseason.
The Rockies probably wouldn’t trade shortstop Trevor Story within their own division, and the Padres would be insane if they’re not handing Fernando Tatis, Jr. a blank check in the near future, but it’s worth noting neither player has signed a long-term contract yet.
A team looking for more power may see Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant as a player who could be on the market soon, while a team trying to see if the Red Sox will make a similar mistake may eventually target third baseman Rafael Devers.
It would be fair to say that none of the players listed above are in the same category as Betts, a former MVP who might be the best five-tool player in the game today. It’s also fair to say that there should be plenty of game- changing players dangled as trade chips in the coming years, and it would be a failure on the part of the Giants’ front office if president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi isn’t exploring all of his options.
The Giants believe they have elite talent on the way to the majors with prospects such as Marco Luciano, Heliot Ramos and Hunter Bishop, but every executive knows a franchise will need help from the outside to field a championship- caliber club.
The Dodgers found a new catalyst in Betts, and even though the Red Sox should regret their decision to trade him for years to come, other clubs will make similar mistakes. It’s up to the Giants to be in a position to capitalize.