Our Andrew Elderbaum, a devout New York Yankees fan, penned a thank you letter to Boston management about their recent give away of Mookie Betts.

Dear John Henry and Chaim Bloom,

I know dear is typically reserved for people your friends with or at least an acquaintance of, but I feel it’s appropriate today. After the recent trade news, I consider you two of my closest friends. As a New York Yankees fan and a connoisseur of utter hypocrisy, the Mookie Betts trade is an absolute delight. There’s much to admire about the move and I want to make sure I give you credit for all the ways it was wonderful.

From a baseball standpoint, you’ve fast-tracked yourself to total irrelevance, and I’m impressed. With the talent on the roster prior to the move and the theoretical war chest of money in Boston, I thought the Sox would be contenders for years to come.

You two have managed to avoid that scenario entirely and I tip my cap to you. Somehow the return on a 27-year-old, five-tool MVP is an outfielder who can maybe be Andrew Benintendi (whom your fanbase is already disenchanted with) and some prospect who might be Rich “El Guapo” Garces 2.0? Sweet.

Well, hold on some might say, you did move the David Price‘s bloated contract as well. Fair enough, but then word leaked out Boston is paying half of what’s left on it. So Boston is paying somewhere between 40 and 55 million dollars for Price to be an ok starter with playoff experience for the Dodgers?

Essentially an MVP in his prime and a solid rotation pitcher(at least) turned into an outfielder who was not one of the Dodgers top 5 prospects, the chubby bullpen arm, and you’re paying them $50M? Good thing you guys didn’t raise ticket prices this season or your fans might be really upset. Oh, wait, you did.

You are probably asking: didn’t the Yankees do the same thing a few years ago? Trading Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman and retooling, and look at them now. Smart move on your part to make that comparison knowing it has no basis in reality. The New York Yankees dealt a few relievers (one who was never that effective again, and the other one they resigned) for premium prospects and remained competitive.

They also had a great farm system with additional talent on the way. Boston’s best young prospects from the last five years are currently starting for other teams. There are no reinforcements coming, and your return isn’t quite Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, or Justus Sheffield who became James Paxton.

That leads to the hypocrisy I previously mentioned. John, you’re pleading poverty? Boston has made money hand over fist since you took over the team. In 2018, your Bosox generated just south of half a BILLION dollars in revenue. Then you tell the fans that the team can’t afford to keep your homegrown MVP?

If Alex Verdugo exceeds all expectations is he being traded in 2024 when he is in his final year of team control? I understand there were some poor decisions (could you afford Betts without Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce‘s contracts?) but still. I’m fairly certain you guys knew the earth would continue spinning on its axis and time would pass.

You would have to pay Betts eventually, why not plan ahead? Are you part of Kyrie Irving’s flat earth society? That’s about the only context in which any of those moves leading to this deal would make sense in.

So in closing, I congratulate you on getting under the luxury tax, threshold while still paying David Price not to pitch for you. Let me recognize the incredible feat it is to take a trade you know your fanbase will be heartbroken over and somehow make it worse by getting a nickel on the dollar.

John and Chaim, I can’t thank you enough for making Boston irrelevant and for once again showing owners in every sport are duplicitous, greedy, garbage people. I look forward to all the Valentines Sox fans will be showering you in the coming weeks,

Your Friend Forever,

Andrew Elderbaum

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