Rumor: Padres and Red Sox have discussed a trade for Mookie Betts

A rumor recently states that the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox have discussed a possible trade for outfielder Mookie Betts.

We haven’t had many San Diego Padres rumors recently, but we got a juicy one on Thursday night that has the San Diego Padres fan base buzzing.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic (paid subscription required) reported that the two teams have a least discussed a possible trade for the MVP outfielder.

Certainly fans on Twitter have been talking about and hoping for this possible move for a while, but this is the first real confirmation that I’ve seen of the two sides talking.

Lin points out in the article that the teams have discussed a “significant amount of prospect talent and outfielder Wil Myers to Boston,”

But he also points out that this is still very unlikely to happen, so don’t get too excited.

Personally, I don’t see how a trade for Mookie Betts makes sense unless you think you can either negotiate an extension in the trade, which isn’t going to happen, or you think you can re-sign him after the season.

Why jeopardize the future of this club by trading away top prospects for one year of Betts?

If the Padres were on the verge of winning a World Series then I’d be all for this happening.

But even if they did acquire Betts, I’m not sure that’s enough to make them the favorites in the NL West.

Having said that, if this is the only way A.J. Preller feels like he can move Myers and his contract, then at least that part makes some sense.

The difference in Myers’ and Betts’ salary for 2020 is only $5.5 million, so you wouldn’t be adding a ton of money to the 2020 payroll.

And you’d be freeing up money for the next two seasons; although I’m sure the Padres would have to throw some money to Boston in this deal as well.

This is still a long shot, but with little-to-no rumors since early December, it’s nice to have something to talk about. On Friday I’ll give my thoughts on what a possible trade for Mookie Betts could look like.