Boston Red Sox DFA Centerpiece From Mookie Betts Trade

It's not the kind of reminder that fans in Beantown need these days, but one of the players that was a key part of the Mookie Betts return in the painful (for Boston fans) trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been designated for assignment by the BoSox.

The Red Sox DFA Jeter Downs, who was a big part of the Mookie Betts trade, per @ChrisCotillo pic.twitter.com/2Wlvw3ZN21

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) December 15, 2022

Infielder Jeter Downs was DFA'd to make room on the roster for new Japanese import Masataka Yoshida. 

Downs was a top prospect and came to the Boston organization along with outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Connor Wong in return for superstar Betts in 2020. 

The 24-year-old Downs, who was a first-round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, never found his hitting stroke in the Boston system. He batted just .191 with 14 homers and a .606 OPS at Triple-A in 2021, and followed that up this past season with an equally drab .197 average and .728 OPS — though he did manage 18 HR and 18 SB with the Worcester Triple-A squad. He got into 14 games with the Red Sox this season and batted .154 in 36 at-bats with one home run. 

Overall though, it's a stunning admission of defeat by the Red Sox, and confirmation (as if Sox fans needed it) that the Mookie Betts trade was an out-and-out disaster. 

Again, the timing couldn't be worse, as fans just watched their latest face of the franchise, Xander Bogaerts, walk out the door as well. 

Perhaps one of the morals of this story is that it's never good business in Boston to acquire a player named "Jeter."

Photo: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports