Andy McCullough of The Athletic writes today that the Dodgers front office “remains engaged with Boston” about a Mookie Betts trade. He adds that the “dialogue with Boston has approached a resolution” in recent days, which means that they’re either close to a deal or close to calling things off.
The shape of such a deal is unknown, and what it is probably depends on how interested the Red Sox are in shedding payroll vs. acquiring young talent. The Dodgers farm system is stocked, and an MVP-type for young studs is a classic sort of deal, but Red Sox owner John Henry signaled earlier this offseason that getting the team under the Competitive Balance Tax threshold is a priority. That could mean that the Dodgers -- who are loaded with cash as well as prospects -- might consider taking on a big salary in addition to Betts in order to make a deal happen with a lower cost in terms of prospects. For example, David Price is owed $96 million between 2020-2022. If Boston is happy with falling out of contention in the short term, they could certainly make that kind of deal.
Hard to say where things are, but this certainly seems like it has more momentum now than it’s had at any point this offseason.