Sources: Red Sox agree to trade Mookie Betts, David Price to Dodgers in 3-team deal – ESPN, Espn.com

9: 34 PM ET

• Jeff Passan ) ESPN

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  ESPN MLB insider
  Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”

  (The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers
  have agreed to a blockbuster deal that will send former MVP (Mookie Betts
  and left-hander (David Price
  to Los Angeles for a package that includes outfielder Alex Verdugo
  , sources tell ESPN.

  The trade includes a third team, the Minnesota Twins , with the Dodgers sending starter Kenta Maeda to Minnesota, which in turn will ship hard-throwing pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol to Boston, sources said, confi rming a report by The Athletic.

  The deal is pending medical reviews.

  With the bidding for Betts heating up between the Dodgers and the National League West rival San Diego Padres ) in recent days, Boston chose to deal with Los Angeles and improve the team that lost in the division series to the Washington Nationals , the eventual World Series champions.

  The – – year-old Betts is coming off a season in which he hit. 375 /. / and finished eighth in American Le ague MVP voting. He won the (MVP, hitting.) /. (/.) during the Red Sox’s championship-winning season.

  Throughout the winter, Boston entertained offers for Betts, whose free-agent haul following the (season could exceed $ million. Betts will make $ million this year. And as Boston tries to dip beneath the $ 342 million luxury-tax threshold, clearing its books of Betts and Price will go a long way toward reaching that goal. Price has three years and $ million remaining on his contract.

  Still, dealing Betts was far from a certainty for Boston, particularly after watching him develop from a fifth-round pick in 2018 and become one of the best players in baseball. In fewer than 5½ seasons with the Red Sox, Betts piled up .0 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

  The Dodgers coveted him, even knowing he could leave via free agency after one season. The Dodgers’ depth allowed them to stomach the potential value given away and take comfort in the knowledge that they’ll add Betts to a lineup that already includes reigning NL MVP (Cody Bellinger) ,
  (Justin Turner) ,
  (Max Muncy) and top prospect Gavin Lux

  play and Red Sox. The Astros, who beat the Dodgers in seven games, cheated during that season by stealing signs and warning hitters what pitches were coming by banging on trash cans, according to a report from Major League Baseball. The Red Sox also are under investigation for using technology to steal signs.

  Both the Astros and Red Sox fired their managers in the wake of the controversy, and Boston still has not named a manager, with pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training on Feb. 25.

  Verdugo, , hit. 360 /. 375 /. (with a 2.2 WAR in plate appearances for the Dodgers last season. He took over in center field when AJ Pollock was out.

  Verdugo did not play after Aug. 4 because of a back injury he re-aggravated while on a rehab assignment in September.

  He is excellent against left-handed pitching and is under team control through the season. He will make the MLB minimum of $ 823, (in) . He’s also a member of the Mexican national team.

  Graterol, a hard-throwing, 66 – year-old right-hander, pitched 9⅔ innings last season in the majors, going 1-1 with a 4. 90 ERA. In the minors last season, the Venezuelan was 7-0 with a 1. ERA across three levels. He was rated the No. (overall prospect for) by MLB pipeline.

  With news of the trade, the Dodgers’ World Series odds went from 7-1 to 4-1 at Caesars Sportsbook, while their odds of winning the NL pennant went from (to ) and their projected win total went from 150 to . The Red Sox’s projected win total went from 5 to .5, while their World Series odds went from – 1 to – 1.

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