Mookie Betts Newest Baseball Star To Ink $300+ Million Contract

Recently acquired star outfielder Mookie Betts inked a 12-year $365 million extension with the LA Dodgers on Wednesday. Betts having been traded to the Dodgers by the Boston Red Sox in February for what felt like pennies on the dollar had a highly publicized contract dispute with Boston before they eventually moved on from him. Many people saw this as a baffling move with Betts having won the AL MVP for the 2018 season and suspected that Boston only moved him in order to cut corners on their player salary bill despite not being afraid of a big salary bill in the past.

Betts joins other players such as Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Manny Machado in getting above the $300 million range with deals that last over a decade. In a conference call from Dodgers Stadium, Betts said, “I just love being here. I love everything about here. I’m here to win some rings and bring championships back to L.A. That’s all I’m focused on.”

Fellow $300 million club-member Mike Trout commented on Betts’ extension. “I’m excited for him,” said Trout. “We kind of went through the same situation. I was laughing because of the physical he probably had to take — because mine lasted about 10 hours. Being so close to him now, it’s pretty cool to have him out here. Southern California is great.”

This seems to come at an ideal time for the Dodgers. With fan attendance likely going to be nil in the next year, the idea of paying a star over $30 million a season may be a more painful trigger to pull in the future and getting a top-tier, young talent like Betts inked up for the near and far future never is a bad idea. It will be interesting to see how these contracts age even though we won’t get the answer to that until many years down the line. The Phillies had a lackluster year with Harper on the books last year, and the Angels failed to make the playoffs last year again despite Trout being widely considered the best player in baseball.  The Dodgers may view this as the move that will catapult them from losing in the World Series two of the last three years to finally claiming that elusive championship but only time will tell if this contract, and others like it, look like a good call in six years or a total albatross.