Betts, Price make their LA intros
by Rowan Kavner
The black sweatshirt with the word “DAD” inscribed across the chest, which Mookie Betts wore Wednesday afternoon while taking the stage at Dodger Stadium alongside teammate David Price, might’ve been used to shield the chilly elements at his last Major League stop. For at least the next year in Los Angeles, it serves a new purpose.
“My hoodie is to keep the sun off,” Betts said with a grin, calmly absorbing the 70-degree temperatures of his new home. “As long as I don’t have to wear my two pairs of batting gloves and thermals, I’ll be happy.”
That won’t be a problem in Los Angeles, where Betts and Price were introduced as Dodgers for the first time since Monday’s trade became official — a week after negotiations with Boston finally reached a conclusion, sending the 2018 MVP outfielder and the 2012 Cy Young Award-winning pitcher to Los Angeles.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said it was unfortunate how public the dealings with the Red Sox became in a winding road of negotiations, particularly because of the impact the discussions had on players’ lives. But Friedman’s main focus — to put Betts and Price in Dodger uniforms — came to fruition.
“We’ve had really talented teams in the past,” Friedman said. “I feel like this is quite possibly our most talented team, but also just a really good group of guys who we couldn’t feel more confident about them going out every night and competing and leaving it on the field.”
Manager Dave Roberts placed a №50 Dodger jersey over Betts’ shoulders, while Friedman gave Price his №33 jersey — a nod to Price’s former Tampa Bay teammate James Shields, a mentor Price credits for taking him under his wing and showing him “the right way to do things.”
In Los Angeles, Friedman trusts Betts and Price will immediately enhance the product on the field. But as much as the Dodger representatives gushed about the abilities of Betts, an All-Star each of the last four seasons, and Price, a five-time All-Star, they spent an equal amount of attention on the positive traits off the field of the two new Dodgers.
“Fortunately with 2006, the Devil Rays were so bad that we got the first pick in the 2007 draft and wisely chose David,” Friedman said. “Watched him grow and continue to evolve on the mound. Obviously the success he’s had is evident and everybody knows about that, but he was as good of a teammate as I’ve seen. Just the impact he’s had in the clubhouse was as significant as I’ve seen.”
Friedman’s fascination with Betts also precedes this year. He joked that Betts may want to get a restraining order against him, because he’s always had such strong interest in the gifted outfielder — a player Friedman said embodies everything the Dodgers value about a position player.
Friedman said he had conversations with former Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski about Betts dating back to last July. It took until the last official week of this offseason, but Friedman made Betts a Dodger and fulfilled the “upside play” he hoped to make before the start of the 2020 season. In Betts, he added the only Major League position player other than Mike Trout who’s been worth at least 40 wins above replacement since the start of 2014.
“When I talked to him the other day, I told him in all the digging we do on players we’re looking to acquire — the feedback we got from teammates and clubhouse guys and different guys that he’s come across in his career — he would blush if he heard all the nice things they said about him,” Friedman said.
The new Dodgers seemed comfortable for the first time in their new jerseys. When the topic of hitting as a National League pitcher was brought up, Betts reminded Price — who expressed excitement about getting to hit and run the bases — that he’s 2-for-his-last-4 at the plate.
“Two for my last three,” Price corrected. “For me, it really takes baseball back to the high school days and just being a little kid.”
With the additions of Betts and Price, Friedman called this team quite possibly his most talented.
And while Betts and Price said they’re not trying to add any more pressure on themselves to try to provide Los Angeles its long-awaited title, the two 2018 World Series winners immediately boost the Dodgers’ chances of hoisting a trophy at the end of the year.
“I’d like to celebrate again here, in this jersey, for sure,” Betts said.
