Mookie Betts is Worthy of Dodgers' Biggest Contract Ever
The Dodgers have their man. Boy, do they ever. With a splash worthy of that man, Mookie Betts, L.A.'s big boss Andrew Friedman reached for the sawbucks and did what he has never done before -- spend a record-setting amount of money for a difference-making free-agent player.
Betts isn't technically a free agent; he's a Dodger, but you get the idea. The 27-year-old former MVP and Los Angeles' right fielder, was set to reach free agency in November. And even with the weirdness that is the pandemic-shortened 2020 baseball season, Betts was headed toward a dream contract signing. And for all we know, with the San Francisco Giants (cough, cough).
Instead, Betts is a Dodger for 12 years (plus the two and possibly three months of the campaign that begins in earnest tomorrow). Twelve. Count em, 12 years. That's 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032. For $365 million.
While I am surprised by timing -- because the Dodgers never deal with these types of things during a season -- I'm not surprised by the Betts signing. Not in the least.
While the cynics among my colleagues were writing back in May about how screwed the Dodgers could be by Betts perhaps not suiting up them a single time, I wrote the following:
"The Dodgers were always going to re-sign Betts. They are going to re-sign Betts. This is the one guy, the one player L.A. was going to splurge on in free agency. If not Bryce Harper, why Betts, you say? Well, there's the lefty-righty thing again. But more importantly, because Betts is the significantly more durable, better all-around player; a greater talent, the one man you push your chips to the center of the table for."
Translation: Betts > Harper. By so much and in so many ways it's almost laughable.
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In February I had this to say about the newest Dodger: "Betts is a one-time Most Valuable Player Award winner with a .301/.374/.519 lifetime line who averages 26 home runs, 96 RBIs and 26 steals per 162 games. And the numbers don't do him justice. Before he dons an interlocking-L.A. cap at a Chavez Ravine presser Betts is already the greatest leadoff hitter in Dodgers history. Yes, that includes Brooklyn. And yes, he's superior in the role to Maury Wills, Brett Butler, Davey Lopes, Steve Sax, Rafael Furcal and Pee Wee Reese. Jackie Robinson, with his 80 leadoff at bats lifetime, doesn't qualify."
And on more that one occasion I wrote that Friedman wasn't kidding when he said that Betts was not only the best player he'd ever traded for; he's the best player Friedman would ever trade for. He is that good.
We should add that while Friedman deserves our admiration for trading for Betts in February and signing the extension today, Dodgers' owner Mark Walter should be commended for signing off on the deal. And Betts will never play for another team again. He's a Dodger for life.
With the opener 24 hours away, I'm reminded of another monumentally big news story on the eve of season: the ill-fated slide into third base which put Pedro Guerrero on the shelf for the year (almost a year, anyway). That had a major impact on the 1986 season. Today's story about Betts has an impact on the 2020 season, and the 12 to follow. And it's a story that is a bit more pleasant, don't you think?
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
