Often Maligned Talking Head Calls Mookie Betts Trade the Worst in 100 Years

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 16, 2024

Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Mookie Betts returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Monday after an eight-week stint on the injured list with a fractured hand and added to his legend with one swing.

In his second at-bat, he homered to left field. He also didn't have a rehab assignment.

He went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and scoring one run in the win.

“Being able to pencil his name in the lineup, we certainly got a lot better,” Roberts said of Betts before Monday’s game. “We’re kind of getting to the point where we’re putting guys in their respective spots in the order, which adds length and makes us a better ballclub.”

His return also marked a change in his position, again. Betts has moved back to the outfield and is now batting second instead of leadoff, the spot he has been in since he arrived in Los Angeles. He isn't a stranger to the outfield; he has won six Gold Gloves there.

Betts' performance sparked a topic of conversation for FOX Sports personality Colin Cowherd and he made a pretty big statement.

"The two worst trades in major league baseball history both belong to the Red Sox," Cowherd said. "They gave up Babe Ruth, and they gave up Mookie Betts.

"The two worst trades in major league baseball history both belong to the Red Sox. They gave up Babe Ruth and they gave up Mookie Betts."

— @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/OoljtpobsK

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 13, 2024

"You think I'm being hyperbolic here, Mookie Betts had been gone for two months. The kid's incredible. When he was in his prime, the Red Sox were like, ‘We're going to move him to the Dodgers.' Yeah, you'll need a search party for the guys they got for him because only one player still remains with the Red Sox."

Coincidentally, the Betts trade came exactly 100 off-seasons after they traded Ruth. The trade of Ruth was followed by an 86-year World Series drought. Could something like that happen again? It might be too early to tell.

Boston traded Betts to the Dodgers in Feb. 2020. He was entering the final year of his contract and the two parties failed to agree on a long-term solution. Instead of waiting for him to hit the free agent market, the Red Sox made a massive with the Dodgers. Betts ended up signing a 12-year, $365 million extension in July that year.

The Red Sox haven't been the same since. They won the World Series in 2018 and since then, they rank 17th in winning percentage, 17th in run differential, and 18th in home run differential in the years that have passed.