So, here's the deal when it comes to Mookie Betts ...
If there is no Major League Baseball season Betts will still be eligible to become a free agent. All the Dodgers will have gotten out of their trade with the Red Sox is two years of control involving David Price and the opportunity to extend a qualifying offer to Betts, thereby potentially getting a draft pick if the outfielder signs with another team.
From the Red Sox' perspective, they will have received six years of control over their potential second baseman of the future (Jeter Downs), a possible major-league catcher (Connor Wong), and an outfielder Alex Verdugo who figures to be an immediate starter in right field while still sitting a few years from being arbitration-eligible.
Obviously, none of such a scenario could be envisioned when the deal between the Sox and Dodgers was done. But that doesn't mean it isn't interesting to hear Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom reflect on how things unfolded -- which he did with OMF Thursday afternoon:
"Obviously at the time we made it, we definitely thought that we were prioritizing the long view and the big picture for all the reasons we said at the time," Bloom said. "I cannot sit here and tell anyone I had my Nostradamus hat on enough to know that a global pandemic was around the corner. Very unforeseen advantage of perhaps taking the long view.
"But while it wasn't a fun process in a sense — it's never a fun thing to part with a player of Mookie's caliber and a player that means as much to an organization and a fan base as he does and as I think he always will — we felt like it was the right thing for the organization at the time."
