BOSTON — The Red Sox and Dodgers have agreed to a deal that will send David Price and Mookie Betts to Los Angeles, according to numerous reports published Tuesday night.
>> Previous: Mookie Betts agrees to record $27M deal with Red Sox
Ken Rosenthal from FOX Sports and The Athletic, Jeff Passan from ESPN and Alex Speier from The Boston Globe all report a deal is in place, pending physical exams.
In exchange for Betts, the Red Sox will reportedly receive Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo, who has appeared in 158 total games in the major leagues. The club will also receive Brusdar Graterol of the Minnesota Twins.
Graterol comes to Boston as part of a three-team deal, with the Twins ending up with former Dodgers’ pitcher Kenta Maeda in exchange. Graterol has pitched in 9.2 innings in his major league career, all of which came last season with Minnesota. The 21-year-old righty made his major league debut in September 2019.
And while Price will join Betts in Los Angeles, half of his remaining salary will still be paid by John Henry and co. The left-handed pitcher signed a 7-year, $217 million deal with the Red Sox in the 2016 offseason. With three years and $96 million remaining on his contract, the Red Sox will be on the hook for $16 million in each of the next three seasons, a total of $48 million.
Rumors about a Betts trade have been swirling for most of the offseason, with most of the speculation being that Betts would end up with the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Diego Padres.
Betts is a four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner. He was voted the American League MVP in 2018, when he hit a major league-leading .346 with 32 homers and 80 RBIs, then helped the Red Sox to the World Series title. He hit .295 last season with 29 homers and 80 RBIs, according to baseballreference.com, an online stat aggregator.
>> Previous: Mookie Betts agrees to record $27M deal with Red Sox
The 27-year-old has lead Major League Baseball in runs scored the last two seasons, crossing home plate 135 and 129 times, respectively. He has also won three Silver Slugger Awards.
Price joined the Red Sox prior to the 2016 season and won 46 games in four seasons, striking out 609 batters and leading the Sox to a world championship in 2018. The 34-year-old pitcher was 2-0 in the World Series against the Dodgers, and was arguably the series most valuable player of the series, an honor that ultimately was awarded to Steve Pearce.
Price was hampered by injuries in 2017 and 2018 and played his last game for the Red Sox on September 1, when he pitched two innings against the Angels. Price only pitched twice after August 1 last season.
The Red Sox will now turn their attention to the start of the 2020 season, which begins as pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in Fort Myers, Fla. on February 13. The rest of the team will also make their way to ‘Fenway South’ on February 18.
[ Red Sox’ equipment truck heads to Florida, marking the unofficial start of spring training ]
Opening Day for the club is scheduled for March 26 in Toronto, while Fenway Park will see its first regular-season game on April 2 against the Chicago White Sox.
This is a developing story. Stay with Boston 25 News Sports as new details come in.