In short, the Boston Red Sox and their new general manager are being difficult. Right now, the report out of Minnesota is not a positive one. LaVelle Neal covers the Twins, and he is saying that the organization is pulling out of their leg of the Brusdar Graterol for Kenta Maeda swap which would, of course, send Mookie Betts to Los Angeles.
Watched Graterol throw in the bullpen today. Also watched Jordan Balazovic and the intriguing 6-foot-9 Bailey Ober. https://t.co/HpoExWV22M
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) February 8, 2020
However, Jon Heyman came back over top of that report just a minute later. What this means is that the deal is likely not completely dead, but on life support. Furthermore, Heyman says that the Twins have tried to sweeten the deal in order for Boston to just agree to the swap for the young reliever.
Twins have floated names of top-20 prospects to try to sweeten the Graterol part of deal but so far Red Sox haven’t accepted any of the names. @LaVelleNeal suggested Twins are pulling out. No confirm on that but optimism for them and Red Sox part of deal has waned a bit.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 8, 2020
Latest word: While the #MNTwins haven’t backed out quite yet, they are setting a deadline of today to resolve their part of the deal with Boston.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 8, 2020
Heyman says that an end of Saturday deadline has been set by the Twins for this to be completed. Otherwise, Minnesota is out. What this would mean is the Dodgers would need another avenue to acquire Mookie Betts and David Price. And the domino effect is on from there.
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Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic added his two cents in a series of tweets.
Real question is what #RedSox want. #MNTwins could send Graterol and lesser prospect to #Dodgers, then LAD could flip Graterol and a better prospect to BOS. But some in talks sense that negative media reaction to Verdugo-Graterol return for Betts-Price gave BOS ownership pause.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2020
Bottom line: #RedSox and #Dodgers should be motivated to complete deal. BOS could be left with Betts, Price and all their previous financial concerns, valid or not. LAD would be left with Maeda and Pederson unsettled – and once again they would be shut out on a star.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2020
More on #RedSox: They should not have been surprised Graterol might project as a reliever; that is how #MNTwins saw him. They also should not have been surprised that fans and media would react negatively to a trade of one of the game’s biggest stars, Mookie Betts.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2020
Really, it’s easy to speculate and read between the lines a little bit. Boston’s new general manager could have gotten cold feet after the media backlash saying the Red Sox got too little in return for the superstar Betts.
After hearing this, he wanted to pull out of the trade without completely looking like he is no good to do business with. Right now, the situation is fluid; but these are the facts we have to go on.
Keep your fingers crossed, Dodgers fans. It could be a tough couple of days.
