As part of the day’s chatter surrounding Mike Trout’s new deal with the Angels, Joel Sherman of the New York Post took a look back at some of the Red Sox’ attempts to hammer out a contract with their own star outfielder. Mookie Betts has rebuffed several prior efforts from the Boston organization, it seems.
In particular, per Sherman, Betts said no to an eye-popping offer after the 2017 campaign. The proposal was worth $200MM over eight years for Betts, who was then heading into his first season of arbitration eligibility on the heels of a good but not great season. Assuming that there was fully $200MM in guaranteed money involved, that would have easily set a new high-water mark for a first-time arb-eligible player, topping Buster Posey’s $159MM contract (as a Super Two) and Freddie Freeman’s $135MM deal (3+ service class).
Betts instead preferred to take the arbitration route, defeating the club in a hearing and earning a $10.5MM salary as a first-year arb player. After putting up a monster 2018 season and taking home MVP honors, he agreed to a cool $20MM salary for 2019 — his second (and second-to-last) season of arb eligibility.
With over $30MM in career earnings already in his pocket, and Trout no longer looming as a co-star in the 2020-21 free agent market, the 26-year-old Betts could ultimately command a record-setting deal of his own. One wonders whether the Sox would have to beat the Trout deal (ten years, $360MM in new money) to keep Betts from testing free agency — if he’s willing even to consider new offers before hitting the open market.
Mookie will look to sign a record deal in free agency. No hometown discount.
Record deal for Boston
I am so sick of these contracts as while I love everything Mookie has been, we fans ultimately pay the freight and the more paid to a few makes it harder to balance out the roster.
Fans are stuck with rising ticket costs whether guys like Trout and Mookie get paid or not. One has nothing to do with the other.
Stop going to the games then if you can’t afford it. Simple as that. No need to complain
The TV deals is what’s really bringing in the dough, not attendance. Stop watching and let their ratings drop, that’ll dent them
Capitalist-elitist apologist alert! Affording equals doling out hard-earned dollars to enrich corporations further. Plenty of need to complain, IMO. No wonder so many of us support socialism – greed and consumption kill!
There’s something wrong when as a teenager I was able to afford and buy the best field seats (sections 2 – 5 at the old Yankee Stadium) when now only corporate America can pretty much afford those seats. I’m certainly not alone in this regard. I personally know several parties who either gave up their Yankees season plan or were forced to buy lesser seats when the new stadium opened. In one example, the cost for four box seats (full plan) quadrupled.
I seriously hope you’re being sarcastic.
I was replying to 88wines
They have made a bad business decision.. but let me explain why they think it is good.
Example A… If tickets are $10 you sell four of them to make $40 and have 4 people in the stadium, 4 people are causing wear and tear over the course of time on the stadium, using bathroom facilities making it harder to find a place to park and overcrowding.
Example B… this is the Yankee model, you charge $40 for a ticket and all you need is that one person. you also charged four times the actual rate you need to charge for parking and for concessions so if you have one person show up at the higher prices it equals what you would make if you had 4 people showing up. minus the additional crowding and wear-and-tear. What the Yankees and other teams are forgetting is the fans. the popularity of the game is being hurt by the lack of exposure to a live baseball game, which many of us were able to enjoy growing up. It has now been priced out of most families budgets.. it’s not the pace of play which is affecting baseball it’s the lack of exposure to it by enough children. they do not grow up with the appreciation of it that we did.
Signing Mookie to a record deal with ultimately change the entire complexion of the rest of the team…. Sale, their SS, Bradley, Bentendi et all want to get paid also.
No matter if the Red Sox sign Mookie or not, all those players will still want to get paid, that statement is just shortsighted and wrong
Lol well Betts is the best player of the bunch. Who cares about what Jackie Bradley thinks if you’re signing betts?
Sale, as lights out as he is, breaks down every year. That’s a major concern if you’re looking at a deal.
Bogaerts is really inconsistent, and even at his best isnt nearly as good as Betts
Benintendi is still a young player and maybe can be as good as Betts in time. Hes the closest to Betts of the bunch.
Then Bradley, lol, the guy has had 3 or 4 good months in his career that mask the rest of the time that he hits under .200. Great defense and all but we could move mookie or benintendi to center, sign an outfielder who can hit, and be much better off. I actually cant believe they havent done that already
Bradley should look at the 7 year, $70m deal Hicks got. Different but comparable players.
Don’t think they’re really close to comparable. Hicks is significantly better imo.
They do different things offensively in that JBJ is inconsistent my consistent. But as great an arm as Hicks has, JBJ is much better in the field.
I’d trade him at the deadline this year or at latest the off season. Sox will never sign him if he reaches FA.
As a Red Sox fan how can you say that.If the Bosox can’t afford him who can. Both Porcello and Price come off the books soon as does Pedroia..If I was the Sox he’s the guy I’d try to resign.Let Bradley walk and if you have to let Bogaerts walk. Betts is the guy you have to keep.Without him your offense just isn’t the same
I am so sick of the record setting salaries. I really liked the way the Angels did the contract without fanfare n press releases every step of the way. If Mookie goes that route the more power to him, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. He should listen to Sale, n just want to play his life with the team that brought him up.
Why? What does he owe them? He’s literally just following the system that MLB has in place without complaining or talking himself up once.
Did you happen to notice the backslide Mookie had at the end of the yr too? He wasn’t there during the play offs like he was at the beginning of the yr. I think his weight needs to rise, like Sale, cuz they both wore down. Sale was lights out for 2/3 of the season, as was Mookie.
Everyone is tired and beat up by the time the playoffs and especially the world series rolls around. And it has nothing to do with his weight.
Well Nate, he really does not owe the team anything. However, a hometown discount (but fair value) along with a clear mandate from the organization telling their fans they are in it to win it means Mookie Betts would, most likely, play for October year in and year out. Can you say the same for Mike Trout? Clearly not.
I’m not here to advocate for Mookie to stay in Boston. Given the luxury threshold and penalties, huge contracts pay more than just a heavy price.
Listen to Chris Sale? He’s been traded. The Red Sox should be leery of extending Sale. He has faded at the end of the year. When the plan is to play to November, that’s going to be an issue.
I don’t understand your comment. Neither Boston or Mookie are behind this story. Neither are making a spectacle of the situation.
In fact there was these same stories about Trout and the Angels’ attempts to resign him and what it would cost. And about 80% of commenters were guaranteeing he was going to be a Phillie or Yankee in 2021.
And the team that brought up Sale traded him. And, the Angels haven’t announced the deal and haven’t had a press conference. If you think they spent that kind of money and aren’t going to market the vrap out of it, you are ignorant.
Nice cash.
I love Mookie and am a huge Sox fan, but he’s not Trout. At least not yet. He was right there with Trout last year, better by a lot of measure; but, Trout is that good every year. Mookie has only done it once. If he can be this good going forward, then Trout’s contract should set the bar for him if he hits the market with a couple more of these monster seasons.
The argument I would make if I were negotiating for Mookie is that the comparison to Trout shouldn’t be a straight WAR (or anything like it) one. Mookie should get the position boost that a center fielder gets. Boston has him in right because they decided to deploy the best way him plus JBJ. In the open market, he’s a no-doubt center fielder. He’s faster than JBJ and has showed he can play the position already.
I mean he hasn’t done it in back to back years, but Mookie has had 2 great seasons on par/ better than Trout.
I agree he has to show consistency, but he’s had 2 great years.
What has to be taken into account is Mookie has already won in Boston, far more challenging for a man of color than Trout playing on a non-contending team in kicked back CA. We don’t know how Trout will perform on a big stage. His brief track record of three playoff games is horrible. Betts hasn’t been a world beater but again he now has won. Also he’s younger than Trout so theoretically should command a longer deal.
“far more challenging for a man of color” Dewey WTH it’s 2019?
What does the colour of his skin have to do with it?
“Boston, far more challenging for a man of color”
It’s this sort of off-hand comment that perpetuates the “Boston is racist” trope. Yes, it’s part of Boston’s & the Yawkey’s past, and yes, there was the alleged Adam Jones incident a couple years ago. But for every isolated incident over the past 30 years, there are dozens of players of color who have chosen to play in Boston and re-sign once they’re here. The pressure from fans and media is legit, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to escape to a lower pressure market, but it has nothing to do with perceived institutionalized racism.
Well said.
I chose my words. Boston has changed but is still when compared to other North East cities, very tough for certain segments to play in. I love the City but it only takes a few to make it rough on the rest. Had the Sox not won last year, David Price likely wouldn’t be so happy.
Fair enough. The Adam Jones incident was disgusting, and I get that one bad apple can ruin the bushel or whatever. But I haven’t heard Mookie or Price or anyone claim they’ve been unfairly targeted due to race.
On top of that, Adrian Gonzalez and to a lesser extent Carl Crawford and Pablo Sandoval have been very outspoken about how miserable they were in Boston and how terrible the media treated them. However, I can’t recall them ever mentioning race as a factor.
Yeah Boston hated Big Papi.Just stupid
He produced albeit on PEDs. That said, all I was trying to state was that Mookie faced many more obstacles coming up in Boston than Trout did in CA. Just my view and was actually meant as a compliment. I get sick hearing what Adam Jones said last year.
I don’t think race is a big of an issue in Boston today as media make it out to be. I believe that if a fan expresses hatred to a player during a game, more fans would react to it pretty quickly. Boston fans aren’t known for keeping quiet and looking the other way.
If you play well and/or wear your heart on your sleeve, you will thrive in Boston. Period.
Mookie won you a world series already.
Just my opinion but I think any extension or new deal for Betts will come up short of Trouts deal. In all honest and fairness he isn’t quite worth Trout money. He’s worth more than Harper money but less than Trout money.
He is, but Trout also took less money than he’s actually worth. In that respect, Mookie probably could get a bigger deal if he wanted
Love Mookie but the #’s are getting out of hand. If things go south this year or NYY runaway with it might be an idea to cut bait and restock. Boggie gone after this season as well. Mookie to SD for Tatis and change.
I absolutely love Mookie and would really like to see him stay as a Red Sox for his whole career. The issue I see with giving Mookie that kind of contrast is the type of player he is. He has great hand eye and extremely quick wrists and swing and I don’t see him as the kind of guy that is going to age extremely well. He is a little guy and relies on his quick bat very similar to Andrew Mccutchen. I think anyone who signs him to a record breaking contract is asking for underperformance. Mookie will be 28 when he hits free agency Mccutcheon started fading after his 28th. I love Mookie but I don’t he will be worth a record setting deal.
I remember when DeGrom turned down an extension a Boston fan on this site suggested that if a player turns down an extension the team should refuse to try and sign him when the player goes into free agency to try to reduce his contract and hurt him for rejecting the extension.I wonder how many Boston fans feel that way now. Always easier to feel that way when it’snot your superstar who is turning down the extension
This is coming from an Angels fan.
Mookie > Trout
A runner on second with two outs, I want Mookie at bat, not fishboy.
That’s only because Trout never gets to hit with a guy on 2nd. Put Trout on the BoSox and he will still show you he’s the best player in the game.
Mookie better sign a 10 to 12 year deal now because owners are looking to CAP years of contract like they have in Hockey 8 years & Basketball which I think is 6 years. This is why Trout moved all in now. It’s out of control & bad for the game. Miggy’s contract is killing the Tigers rebuild, AROID hurt the Yankees but 400 million net income a year they brushed it off but most teams can’t. Many teams could not compete on offers to these guys 8-12 years. I think 6 year contracts for FA new team & 7 years for the home team should be implemented. Get rid of the QO reward draft compensation for loss FA’s similar to football. Don’t penalize the signing team reward losing team with more picks & more pool signing money.
You’re a fool.
Every one of the owners has deep enough pockets to outspend the Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees every year, they just chose not to.
I hate this line of thinking. Grew up with a lot of Twins fans constantly complaining how they cannot compete with the Yankees because the Metrodome didn’t draw enough fans and they couldn’t maintain a large payroll. What happened?
After threatening to move, tax payers built them a new ball park and they went on to lower spending each year since. And the Polads (twins owners) are more wealthy than the Steinbrenners!
Don’t hate the larger spending teams for trying to win and show their fans they are trying to compete (if Yankees ever went into tank mode fans would not show up). Hate the fans who just take it in the #%* and accept cheap ownership.
10y 350
Trout would had gotten over $40 mil per year in the open market. The Angels got a great deal, because Trout gave them a hometown discount. In the open market other teams would bid for Trout and the price goes up. So, in my opinion I think Betts will get more than what Trout got from the Angels.
Thanks too Angels and Trout, Betts best bet is to sign now and may never be more valuable than now. He can gamble 2 years and target 40m or “take care of his family now”, leveraging the Trout comp. 2 years of aging and risk of injury would not be a smart l decision. $400/12 should get it done
Over $200M for 8 years, as an arb eligible player, is an amazing offer considering the injury risk. He has to be a fool to pass up over $200M in hand. Again considering the injury risk. That’s $150,000 per game “in hand now for 8 years”.
PS – And that’s not even considering he could start investing the money. Mookie, please talk to Warren Buffett on this one before you pass this up. Just buy Berkshire Hathaway with 25 – 50% of your earnings and you’ll be a billionaire before you know it.
Betts will be in pinstripes in 2021. He’ll follow the same path as Jacoby. We need to trade him during the 2020 season and rebuild our farm.
I’m tired of your type of answer for two reasons. One, it implies that the poor Red Sox can’t afford to sign Mookie Betts even though they have by far the largest payroll in the Major Leagues. Second the idea that the Yankees go out and sign all the high priced free agents. The Yankees haven’t signed a high priced free agent since Ellsbury. This year at one time or another Machado Harper and Corbin were all definitely going to NY. That wasn’t the case and truthfully they weren’t really major players in any of those signings. The truth is Boston will probably resign Betts and everyone will keep up this false narrative that the Yankees sign everyone and outspend everybody. Btw Red Sox fans are the worst for peddling this false narrative. After all if an evil empire exists now look in the mirror guy because the Sox are that evil empire