5 teams who should start planning a trade for Mookie Betts

5 teams that should start planning a trade for Mookie Betts

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 29: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after being doused by Gatorade after scoring the game winning run on a walk-off single hit by Rafael Devers #11 during the ninth inning of a game against the Baltimore Orioles on September 29, 2019 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

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DENVER, CO – AUGUST 28: Boston Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts (50) warms up before batting against the Colorado Rockies during a regular season interleague Major League Baseball game on August 28, 2019 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Whether they win it all or come up painfully short yet again this October, the Dodgers should already have trading for Mookie Betts in the back of their minds. They have the type of young star power at the MLB level and in the Minor Leagues to entice the Red Sox. They have also shown that money is no object and will not balk at paying the luxury tax if it means signing Betts to a long-term deal.

If the Dodgers do not win the World Series and Betts is legitimately available for trade this winter, then they should do whatever it takes to bring him to LA. Andrew Friedman has been unfairly criticized for being unwilling to pull the trigger on big trades, but few general managers in baseball have done better than he has. The Dodgers have made big trades for stars like Rich Hill, Yu Darvish and Manny Machado without giving up their best assets. When Friedman has dealt away top prospects, they’ve always seemed to be the ones at the lower end of the team’s best.

Friedman has made several big trades without giving up Gavin Lux, Alex Verdugo, Walker Buehler or Dustin May. He truly knows the value of his own prospects and has not given away any that now look like long-term All-Stars, the possible exception being Frankie Montas, who served an 80-game PED suspension this year.

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The Dodgers have spent too much and come to close to winning it all to go another year without a title. It will be extremely disappointing if they do not win this year after a 106-win season. Friedman has built an absolute machine with solid players at every position, but he may need to cash in a few chips to land one more superstar.

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