If the blockbuster three-team trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers is going to be completed, the Boston Red Sox reportedly want another top prospect to make it happen.
Reports on Thursday night detailed that medicals concerns over Minnesota Twins top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol put the deal in jeopardy. Now, given the new information on Graterol, the Red Sox want another high-end prospect to be part of the deal, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
Graterol is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016 and missed significant time this past season with a right shoulder issue.
While the Red Sox are also receiving Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo, who was a consensus top-35 prospect in MLB following 2018, the organization now wants more compensation given Graterol’s medicals.
It remains to be seen if the Twins would be willing to include more to make a deal happen. They traded Graterol to Boston in order to receive starting pitcher Kenta Maeda from Los Angeles. A trade that seemed to be done and would shake up the 2020 season, now appears to be in some jeopardy of falling apart.
Spring training is drawing closer and all teams involved certainly want to avoid this hanging over their heads with players who were traded reporting back to their original teams. It’s still likely a new agreement is made, but that’s no longer the certainty it used to be.