Los Angeles Angels outfielder Matthew Lugo
For Boston Red Sox fans, the sting of the Mookie Betts trade likely will never fully fade.
In February 2020, Boston sent Betts and left-handed pitcher David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Alex Verdugo, who was the No. 1 ranked prospect in the Dodgers system before his first full MLB season in 2019, along with infield prospect Jeter Downs (No. 8) and catching prospect Connor Wong (No. 14).
Wong is the only player still with the Red Sox. Verdugo played 493 games in a Boston uniform over four seasons, batting .283 with 43 home runs and 206 RBIs, then left for a single season with the Yankees before signing about a month ago with Atlanta. Downs batted .154 over 14 games with the Red Sox in 2022, and after a 6-game showing for Washington the next season, Downs left for Japan to join the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Meanwhile, all Betts has done is win two World Series titles with the Dodgers while earning four Silver Slugger awards and being selected to every All-Star Game held – excluding 2020, when there wasn’t one. Suffice it to say, for every member of Red Sox Nation not alive when Babe Ruth was essentially handed to the New York Yankees, there may never be a worse transaction.
Red Sox Fans Could Rue the Day Matthew Lugo Was Traded to LA
That being said, there probably aren’t too many who will look back fondly on the move that was made on July 30, 2024.
With the Red Sox seeking bullpen help, they sent infielder/outfielder Matthew Lugo (Boston’s No. 14 prospect in 2023), infielder Niko Kavadas (No. 20), right-handed pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn and right-handed pitcher Yeferson Vargas to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for right-handed reliever Luis García.
The immediate results of that trade did not go so well. García, a veteran reliever who in his 12th season had posted a 3.71 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 43.2 innings for the Angels, gave up 24 hits and 15 earned runs in 15.1 innings with Boston, spending most of September on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.
The long-term look of the swap may not be much prettier. Time will tell on Kavadas and Vargas, who are both currently toiling in the Angels’ minor league system. Zeferjahn made his MLB debut for Los Angeles in late August and has actually been the effective relief pitcher Boston hoped it was getting in Garcia, posting a 3.35 ERA over 35.0 innings with 44 strikeouts.
Matthew Lugo Swinging Hot Bat Since Making MLB Debut on His Birthday
But Lugo could be the real salt in the wound.
Lugo, who was drafted by Boston in the second round of the 2019 draft, made his MLB debut on May 9, his 24th birthday, and in 11 games, Lugo is slashing .273/.294/.667 with a .961 OPS. He has started at all three outfield positions, and although the strikeouts are a concern, with 13 in 33 at bats, Lugo has also hit two doubles and three home runs with six RBIs.
“We knew the kid could swing the bat,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “That’s what they said when they brought him, that he could hit, and he’s showing that.”
As for García, he would sign with the Dodgers during the offseason, and in 23 appearances covering 21.2 innings, he has a 4.57 ERA with 22 strikeouts.
“The way I take things is that God has a purpose for everything, and every time we play, we want to do good, but it wasn’t the case there (in Boston),” García recently told a Dodgers analyst. “So I just learn from that and take it to this year and then, you know, be better.”
