David Price Ponders Potential Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez Trades as Red Sox Struggle
David Price sounded the alarm on Boston's slow start to the 2019 season, noting potential trades of a number of key starters.
"If we don’t start playing better, J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, maybe myself, we could get traded. We’re, what, 30th in minor league systems?” Price told the Boston Globe's Alex Speier. “We’re dead last. We don’t play better, Mookie Betts will be traded, J.D. Martinez will be traded. It will be tough for a while here.”
The Red Sox enter Thursday night last in the AL East at 6–13. They are 8.5 games back of the division-leading Rays. Boston's struggles are a marked difference from 2018 when it boasted baseball's best record at 108–54 and won the World Series over the Dodgers.
Betts and Martinez were central figures in Boston's run to the 2019 title. Betts won the American League MVP and led the MLB in batting average, slugging and runs. Martinez bashed 43 homers and drove in a league-best 130 RBI.
The pair will be expensive to keep at Fenway Park over the next decade. Betts will be a free-agent after the 2020 season and could command a contract similar to Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Martinez signed a five-year, $110 contract with Boston in February 2018, but could opt out seeking a new deal after the 2019 season.
Price is signed in Boston through the 2022 season. He is 1–1 in three starts this year with a 3.79 ERA.
