It’s been about 48 hours since reports broke that the Dodgers had brokered a three-team deal with Boston and Minnesota to send a lot of moving parts to new homes. There remains a problem here.
None of the teams have announced the deal.
Understandably, with so many moving parts it’s in each team’s best interest to double-check every bit of the deal up and down. And by the way, there are a lot of moving parts indeed. Kenta Maeda and Alex Verdugo would head from the Dodgers to Minnesota and Boston respectively. David Price and Mookie Betts would go to LA from Boston. And hard-throwing prospect Brusdar Graterol would head from Minnesota to Boston.
But issues over Graterol’s medical records caused the Red Sox to pump the brakes and rethink this blockbuster deal.
Now Jon Heyman tells us that is indeed the case.
Red Sox are said to be trying to reconfigure the part of the Betts 3-team deal with the Twins (meaning more than Graterol). While there’s still hope the mega deal gets done in some form, some involved are now suggesting it’s not a certainty.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 7, 2020
Over the last 20 hours, this dead has gone from done to slim chance this trade will completely fall apart to not a certainty. And with that, baseball continues to hold its collective breath.
The Twins may pony up more along with Graterol in a deal to Boston. They made switch prospects. Or they could be removed from the equation altogether. However, reports are that Minnesota is very interested in acquiring Kenta Maeda from Los Angeles.
Importantly, progress on some version of a deal is reportedly being made, per MLB.com writer Mark Feinsand.
Source familiar with the three-way Boston/Los Angeles/Minnesota trade said the sides are “making progress,” and while a deal isn’t likely to be finalized any earlier than Friday, it’s still “more likely to happen than not.”
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 7, 2020
It seems like nothing will come easy for Dodgers fans. Still, the expectation is that Mookie Betts will be suiting up for Los Angeles before spring training.
