Hot Stove Lunch: Taking on big salary in order to move Mookie Betts makes little sense

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom met with reporters Thursday night and was asked whether there was still time to move a big salary in order for his team to get under the first CBT threshold.

"It's certainly possible,'' said Bloom. "There's nothing I'm hinting or trying to imply, but the short answer is, 'Yeah.' Sometimes the action happens early; some years it happens late.''

Hours after Bloom spoke, as if on cue, a report in The Athletic had the Red Sox engaged in talks with the San Diego Padres for a deal involving Mookie Betts. According to the story, the Padres, who have one of the top farm systems in the game, would agree to include a good prospect in the deal. But they would also want the Sox to take Wil Myers off their hands.

That's a mixed bag for the Red Sox. It would be nice to acquire a top prospect, though the Padres won't even discuss the likes of MacKenzie Gore or Luis Patino. There are still plenty of other good prospects in the system from which to pick.

But taking on Myers would seem antithetical to what the Red Sox are trying to accomplish. Myers has three years and $61 million remaining on a heavily backloaded contract. And while Myers would only cost the Sox about $14 million toward the CBT in 2020, they would still be assuming a lot (or most) of the remaining money.

Myers is, at best, an average run producer at this point and would further bloat the Red Sox' payroll.

Taking on a big contract in order to move David Price is understandable. Taking on one to move one of the top five players in baseball makes little sense.

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