Red Sox Rumors: Jeter Downs DFAd; Top Prospect in Mookie Betts Trade with Dodgers

Jeter Downs has been designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, the team announced Thursday.

ESPN's Alden González was the first to report the move.

Downs was the top prospect Boston acquired in the deal that shipped star outfielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020.

The decision to DFA Downs came after the Red Sox made the signing of Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida official Thursday. Boston needed room on its 40-man roster for Yoshida, who inked a five-year deal through 2027.

Boston acquired Downs, outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Connor Wong from the Dodgers in the deal that sent Betts and left-hander David Price to L.A.

Downs was once ranked a top-five prospect in the Boston organization by MLB.com, but his stock took a nosedive over the last two seasons as he struggled to live up to expectations in Triple-A Worcester following the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season due to COVID-19.

In 2021, Downs hit .191/.272/.333 with 14 home runs and 39 RBI in 99 games with the WooSox. He followed that with an equally disappointing performance at the dish in 2022, slashing .197/.316/.412 with 16 home runs and 33 RBI 81 games.

Downs also appeared in 14 games for the Red Sox last season, hitting .154/.171/.256 with one home run and four RBI. He struck out in 21 of 41 plate appearances, an unacceptable 51.2 strikeout rate.

With only Verdugo and Wong left to show for the Betts deal, and just one playoff appearance since 2020, it's clear Boston lost the trade.

Betts, meanwhile, is coming off a 2022 campaign in which he slashed .269/.340/.533 with a career-high 35 home runs, in addition to 82 RBI in 142 games. The Dodgers have reached the playoffs in each of the last three seasons and won the World Series in 2020.

The Red Sox still have a decent prospect pool headlined by Marcelo Mayer, Triston Casas and Ceddanne Rafaela, but it still doesn't match up to some of the league's best.