Mookie Betts has yet to even play a regular-season game with Dodgers, but that didn’t stop them from signing him to a mammoth extension.
The star outfielder agreed to a 12-year, $365 million extension with the club on Wednesday. That is combined with the $27 million contract he is currently on. Included in that is a $65 million signing bonus.
“I just love being here,” Betts said in a video conference call from Dodger Stadium. “I love everything about here. I’m here to win some rings and bring championships back to LA. That’s all I’m focused on.”
This extension broke the record held by another outfielder in LA, Mike Trout.
“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.”
How He Got There
In the midst of the coronavirus, winter baseball trades seem like years ago. Just to catch up the Dodgers acquired Betts from the Red Sox in exchange for Alex Verdugo and infield prospect Jeter Downs.
Since his contract was only for another year, the Dodgers had high hopes that they would be able to get him on an extension.
“It was something we really wanted to do … We were hopeful that he’d get here, fall in love with it, go out there and win a bunch of games,” said the Dodgers President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman.
It seems that negotiations were rolling before the pandemic even hit.
“Our desire to get something done didn’t change at all,” Friedman said. “It helps when both sides are coming at it from a standpoint of wanting to get a deal done.”
They didn’t waste any time. The Dodgers will be one of the favorites for this year, and now, will be in good shape for years to come.
The Dodgers Moving Forward
The Dodgers have been on the edge of winning a World Series the past couple of years. Making these moves just shows how much they are looking to get over the hump.
They have won 7 NL West titles in a row, losing in the World Series in 2017 and 2018. They now have more than enough talent to get them to the end in October for the next couple of years at least.
Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler are the headlining starting pitchers. Even though Kershaw has had his issues in the postseason, there aren’t many other aces a skipper could want.
That goes along with a lineup of Will Smith, Max Muncy, Chris Taylor, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger, A.J. Pollock, and now for the next 13 years, Mookie Betts.
No team can be quite as angry about the Houston Astros scandal than the Dodgers. But they have now assembled a team that will have better odds than anyone else.
