Everybody loves a big trade involving big names, big stars -- and prospects, the human lottery tickets that might pay off big in the end. But nobody loves a big trade more than the big league evaluators who aren't involved. They love to break down each side, compare their own reports of players with those made apparent by decisions of teams involved in the deal.
The Mookie Betts deal, with its various spinoffs (failed and otherwise), has temporarily supplanted sign stealing as the primary topic in the industry, with thoughts and opinions flying all over the place; we've captured some of them here.
Some broad takeaways from folks who didn't make this trade:
1. Baseball evaluators generally like the deal much more for Boston than Red Sox fans do, perhaps because they mostly assume Betts will head into free agency and because they understand the difficulty of trading David Price and his onerous contract.
2. Alex Verdugo, the primary piece the Red Sox got from the Dodgers, is a very talented hitter who will immediately produce in Boston, as he did in L.A.
3. There is uncertainty about where Jeter Downs will play in the big leagues because of concerns about his defense.
4. Some evaluators like Brusdar Graterol, the hard-throwing pitcher turned down by Boston and eventually moved to the Dodgers, more than the Red Sox apparently did.
Some specific opinions:
High-ranking official: "Boston did really well. I don't think anyone else was giving them that prospect value plus taking on all that money in David Price's contract."
A longtime evaluator: "This is not widely known, but Mookie worked with J.D. Martinez's hitting coach in 2018."
That would be Robert Van Scoyoc, currently the hitting coach for the Dodgers. "That's a plus," the evaluator continued. "David Price is healthy, so that's a plus too.
"The Red Sox will reset fast. Jackie Bradley Jr. will move out after this year, and Martinez most likely opts out. No Mookie. But they will score runs again and compete for a wild card this year, and they'll have money to spend in the next offseason."
An NL evaluator: "A healthy Graterol would've made it a better deal, but a healthy Graterol doesn't get traded for Kenta Maeda. I thought the Red Sox did well for one year of Betts. Still, the Dodgers get one of the five best players and an inside track to sign him, while dealing expendable pieces."
A longtime scout: "I thought the Red Sox did as well as they could've expected. I'm not fond of the hysterics over Verdugo, but there always seems to be that around the Dodgers' prospects. He's a good player -- I see him as a guy who will hit .280, 20 homers, 80 RBIs, and he's a good defender."
A manager: "It was pretty solid both ways. The Dodgers are clearly trying to win this year. Boston seems like it's in a rebuild. The Dodgers gave up a good prospect in Downs but ended up with Graterol in their other trade with the Twins. L.A. continues to keep a wealth of prospects in their system even with all of their moves. The health of David Price is the one thing that scares me."
Another manager: "The idea that you'd trade a Hall of Fame player rather than pay him, there's something really wrong with that. That said, if you're trying to cut payroll, Boston did well. I think [Connor] Wong is a backup catcher in the end, and Downs is going to have to get better on defense to have an impact. There are questions about Verdugo and his makeup, but I think he's an underrated defender; it's harder for someone like Downs to learn how to play defense and hit than to have the defense down like Verdugo does."
An NL staffer: "Downs is a solid get for the Red Sox. He can hit, but is most likely a second baseman or third baseman. Wong is athletic, an average type of defender, and has a little pop -- but not a great approach. Strikes out way too much. This will be an interesting year for him."