What can Red Sox' history of rebuilds tell us about Mookie Betts trade?

Believe it or not, the Boston Red Sox have been here before.

Maybe not to this extent: It's not every day you trade away your 27-year-old superstar outfielder two seasons removed from an American League MVP campaign.

But the Red Sox' decision to deal Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a virtual salary dump -- a move that all but waves the white flag on the 2020 season and essentially signals a rebuild -- isn't totally without precedent.

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The John Henry-era Red Sox, while consistently among the biggest spenders in baseball, have a history of hitting the "reset button" by declining to give new contracts to players viewed as franchise cornerstones.

That may explain why all four of Boston's World Series titles this century have come at least two years apart, and why the Sox have never made the playoffs in more than three consecutive seasons.

• Tomase: Why the Betts/Price trade will work out in the long run

Want examples? We have examples. Let's start after the Red Sox' first World Series title in 86 years and continue through to the present:

2005 offseason: Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe

The Red Sox actually got ahead of their first "rebuild" by trading star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra at the 2004 MLB trade deadline, months before their historic World Series victory.

The Sox then allowed both future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and postseason hero Derek Lowe to walk in free agency: Martinez signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets, while Lowe got four years and $36 million from the Dodgers.

Boston got swept out of the 2005 American League Division Series and missed the playoffs in 2006. But moving on from Garciaparra, Martinez and Lowe allowed the club to take on the contracts of Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell in a 2005 trade with the Miami Marlins.

The Red Sox were back atop the MLB heap in 2007, with Beckett and Lowell (the eventual World Series MVP) playing a key role in that championship run.

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2012 season: Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez

Ben Cherington's August 2012 blockbuster with the Dodgers was a long time coming for the Red Sox, who had a bloated payroll and a roster of overpaid stars on bad contracts.

So, Cherington pulled the plug, trading Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez and Nick Punto to L.A. for prospects in a move that opened up more than $250 million in payroll.

What did Boston do with that extra money? The Sox signed seven free agents -- David Ross, Jonny Gomes, Stephen Drew, Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, Koji Uehara and Ryan Dempster -- who under first-year manager John Farrell caught lightning in a bottle to win the 2013 World Series.

2014 season: Jon Lester

You know the story here: The Red Sox famously lowballed Lester in contract negotiations prior to the 2014 season, then dealt him to the Oakland Athletics at the 2014 MLB trade deadline rather than sign him to a long-term contract.

The next two seasons were a dark time in Boston -- last place finishes in the American League East in 2014 and 2015 -- but Dave Dombrowski's additions of Rick Porcello, David Price and Chris Sale over the next three seasons along with the development of young prospects like Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi helped the Red Sox climb back to relevance.

After early exits in the 2016 and 2017 playoffs, the Red Sox finally put it all together in 2018 with a 108-win season and another championship.

2020 offseason: Mookie Betts and David Price?

Let's face it: The Red Sox might miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and you may be inclined to call Boston "cheap" for trading a once-in-a-generation talent to get under the luxury tax.

That said: Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom now has the resources to check out the 2021 free-agent market or explore trades to improve the team.

As we've seen in years past, there's a good chance Bloom will do just that and get the Red Sox back into title contention.

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