The Red Sox made an attempt to extend franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts during the offseason, but the right fielder isn’t interested in signing a long-term deal at this point, Rob Bradford of WEEI reports. Betts revealed to Bradford that he discussed the extension process with teammates who have signed them, saying: “I talked to some people about it, how the process went. But I didn’t really ask details about what they got or what was offered. It was more just about how the process went. It can be a tough process. You’re dealing with a lot of money.” Betts will make a lot of money in 2018 even without a new deal – $10.5MM after a resounding victory over Boston in arbitration – and will be under team control through at least 2020. The 25-year-old’s current salary is the second-highest award ever given to a first-time arb-eligible player, and Betts should rack up a couple more significant paydays via that route if he continues without an extension.
More from the AL…
- Astros right-handers Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock have come up as speculative trade pieces, and Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that the team would be more open to moving the former than the latter. There’s nothing eye-opening about that, though, as McHugh is now working in a foreign role as a reliever after losing his rotation spot during the offseason. He’s also in a contract year, whereas Peacock – who was an elite swingman last season – is under Houston’s control through 2020.
- Tigers outfielder Victor Reyes, the first pick in last December’s Rule 5 draft, is likely to earn a spot on the club’s bench, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com relays. While Reyes has only hit .250/.291/.288 over 52 at-bats this spring, the 23-year-old has done enough to convince Tigers brass that he could be a long-term cog. “We’re very encouraged with Reyes,” general manager Al Avila said. “He’s not given us any reason to think that he can’t handle it. We’re pretty excited about him, actually.”
- The Angels plan to enter the season without naming a closer, manager Mike Scioscia suggested to Doug Padilla of MLB.com. “We have a number of guys we think are going to be able to pitch in the ninth inning if we have a lead,” Scioscia said. “But let’s wait and see how the game plays out.” The only highly experienced closer on the Angels’ roster is offseason acquisition Jim Johnson, who has 176 saves on his resume, but he has been inconsistent in recent years and struggled mightily in Atlanta last season. Blake Parker, who had a tremendous 2017, and Cam Bedrosian are other candidates to grab the role if the Angels do eventually decide to establish a consistent game-ending option.
So, Betts’ plan is to enter free agency as a near 30 player whose legs provide a good bit of his value?
Seems like the type of player whose agent should be pitching 7 and 8 year deals to the team. His value is either at or neak peak now. Unless they are Jon Lester-ing him, he should be open to hearing offers.
Betts has an outstanding 2016 but a less than stellar 2017. I can see where he’d feel that waiting to sign a long term deal until at least following this coming season would make sense. He’s probably thinking he’s going to have a big bounce back season which would increase the potential dollar amount offered.
Betts also had an outstanding 2017 he was just a bit unlucky. According to Fangraphs he had a .268 babip by far the lowest of his career. It appears that it was most unlucky because his Soft, medium and hard hit percentage were very close the only thing partially explains the lower babip was a reduced line drive percentage by 2%. Overall Betts 2017 was not that different then his 2016 with the exception of luck. I’m sure the Boston brass knows this.
He’ll be 28 when he hits FA and be highly coveted. “Near 30 player”? Talk about a rounding error to support your argument…
I was thinking the same thing.
He’ll be a free agent just 7 years from his age 35 season!
look at what Cain got at age 32 Betts would be younger and better
Cain does not have near the power of the 5’9 bett’s and bett’s doesn’t use his speed nearly as much as he could. How speed being the main drawing card to his game, as that initial poster noted is wild to me. Cain? definitely and bett’s is also THE best RF in the game to boot with a solid arm.
Well if he doesn’t use his speed as much as he could, where’s the value in that?
speed/stealing bases really hasn’t been priority 1 in Boston throughout it’s history. I remember Harper stole over 50 1 year, then also remember they got Remy from the Angels late 70’s.. A big base stealer who was stealing 30-40 a year and his numbers, even attempts went down. Same with CoCo Crisp, who they didn’t have running nearly as much as they would have.. Boston has habitually been a get on base, then just drive them in team the last nearly 50+ years.
I remember otis nixon they had 1.. “maybe” 2 seasons without looking it up running a lot, but usually? They haven’t been a running lot. NOT speed (base stealing) oriented Betts on some other team? Sure, he could swipe 35-40 with ease.
“How speed being the main drawing card to his game, as that initial poster noted is wild to me.”
Probably because I said no such thing. “A good bit of his value” and “the main drawing card to his game” are not the same.
And legs are more than just speed.
Teams might look at how a similar player in Andrew McCutchen just fell off a cliff in his age 29 season when valuing Betts.
Speed has allowed him to become an elite outfielder.
Cutch fell of a cliff during his age 29 season? He finished the year with 53 XBH (just 9 less than the previous year) His BA was roughly 30ish pts below his career avg. Then last year he had 60 XBH, hit .279/.363/.486……that sure is falling off a cliff!
Even a Red Sox hater couldn’t be serious when saying things like that. You’ve just gotta be a troll
Darn I was hoping Reyes might get returned to Arizona. I remember when Inciarte was a Rule 5 pick by the Phillies and they returned him, which worked out well for Arizona (until the Shelby Miller trade, at least)
McHugh is not in a contract year. Astros control him next season as well.
Houston should trade McHugh for a LF or a RP. They have insurance with Peacock, Martes, or Paulino is they need them.
No they shouldn’t. They have Kyle Tucker on the the way and can fill left field just fine with Fisher and Gonzales.
McHugh will be back in the rotation at some point because Keuchel, McCullers and Morton will all hit the DL at some point in the season. He’s good a depth piece that’s more valuable than anything he could bring back in a trade.
The Angels won’t name a closer, because they dont have one. Jim Johnson is garbage. Blake Parker has been a complete meds this Spring. And Cam Bedrosian has never pitched well, when he has been asked to close a game. They would be better off getting Greg Holland at this point. Before they are 15 games out in May, do to the fact they will have the most blown saves in the league.
Jim Johnson will be released. Not sure why he is still on the roster, he’s going to cost them games.
Do the Angels even have money to spend on Holland? Jim Johnson is a head case. Most teams know just tell your hitters not to swing until late in the count. He is only good against teams that swing out of the strike zone.
Exactly, that just shows how desperate they are. The angels have not had a closer for a very long time. Not since the Perceval, Francisco Rodriguez era
Francisco is available!!!
The Angels have roughly 10 million left, before the luxury tax.
More like $25 million.
I’d make it Bedrosian’s job to lose. He has the pedigree, and if you actually look up his pre-injury 2016 season, you’d see that he is very much closer material. There’s a reason why he was a first round pick.
Seriously! Parker is having an abysmal spring and Cam isn’t reliable. They need to get Holland ASAP or sooner!
I think teams are mental to sign free agents to huge contracts. It seems like the deals work out about 10% of the time (or less). For Boston, the only big free agent contract to really work out was Manny Ramirez and that is going back almost 20 years (and it blew up in the end). JD Drew, Carl Crawford, Sandoval, Price, Hanley Ramirez now JD “Stiff” Martinez…
Regardless of market size, teams should lock up players early, buying out arbitration or FA years and then let them go. . Take the comp pick and move on. Build through he draft, trades and short term deals to plug holes.. MLB teams have wasted BILLIONS of dollars and still throw good money after bad. I just don’t get it.
In the Mariner’s case I would say cano and Cruz both worked out well. Scherzer has been solid for Washington, Daniel Murphy too. So I think there is plenty of good with the bad.
teams are just simply signing the wrong free agents
The basic problem is that the economic system is flawed; players are underpaid when they are in their prime and overpaid when they are past it. The Cabrera and Pujols contracts, for example, look terrible now, but both those guys were putting up massive seasons while being underpaid. So it all sort of(?) washes out in the end. I’d love to see a system in which all players were free agents much earlier, but that’s not going to happen.. (I’d also like to see the draft abolished and minor leaguers actually get paid a reasonable wage but that’s not happening either)
I totally agree with everything David just said, except for maybe the draft.
That would completely destroy parity in the sport and teams like your Padres would never be able to contend.
I’ll be watching the Angels and Cards closely the first half as both teams are gambling on success without a clear closer. It just doesn’t seem wise to leave a loose end like that and jeopardize all the other moves an organization makes to improve itself over the winter. The Nats went into 2017 with no closer and were fortunate to muddle through until trading for several of them at mid-season. Jim Johnson is really nothing more than a scarecrow at this point, and Luke Gregerson (injured) can only be viewed as a closer through rose-colored glasses and a pint of bourbon. The first 3 months of the season will tell the tale.
I don’t understand why these fringe wild card teams are doing this. Every year it seems the wild card comes down to a few games, so why gamble early on?
Betts doesn’t need the extension. He’s going to make a fortune this year, and if he stays healthy and reasonably productive, the same in 2019 and 2020–an aggregate of maybe $40M over the three years. It’s worth rolling the dice for a much bigger payday later. Every year he puts FA off, he heightens his risk.
Pretty sure McHugh has two more years of control, not one.
That’s what I thought. And I glad because he we need him next year.