Los Angeles Dodgers' Star Mookie Betts Speaks on Failed Negotiations with the Boston Red Sox Before He Was Traded

Mookie Betts was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season. As Betts gets set to return to Fenway for the first time since that trade, he addressed the Boston media about his exit from Boston.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts returns to Fenway Park this weekend for the first time since being traded from the Boston Red Sox before the 2020 season.

Prior to COVID-19 halting the start of the 2020 season, Betts was traded from Boston to the Dodgers in a package for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. Downs is no longer in the organization but Verdugo and Wong have become starters in Boston.

There has been mystery surrounding Betts's departure from Boston for years and Betts didn't do much to clear that up in a media session before Friday's series opener.

Mookie Betts met with Boston media today and had this to say about where contract negotiations with the Red Sox went wrong

(Photo: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports) pic.twitter.com/cYh2yKkicO

— WEEI Red Sox Network (@SoxBooth) August 25, 2023

Betts was asked if he was ever offered a $300 million deal from the Red Sox, and if he turned it down, and he deferred to Red Sox management.

He also said that he wanted to stay in Boston but that negotiations didn't go as he had planned, but he didn't shed any further light on that.

Regardless of what happened in the past, we are in this spot now. Betts is one of the best players in baseball and has the Dodgers in a position to maybe win their second World Series title in four years. The team enters play at 78-48.

He's hitting .310 this year with a .405 on-base percentage. He's got 34 home runs and 89 RBI.

In Boston, Betts spent six years, winning a batting title and helping the Red Sox win the World Series in 2018. He was named the American League MVP that year as well.

First pitch on Friday is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.

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