When the Los Angeles Dodgers gave up an intriguing package of young players to acquire Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox, it was with an eye on ending a 31-year World Series drought.
The 27-year-old had just one year remaining on his contract, and the expectation was that he would test free agency at the conclusion of the 2020 season. The Dodgers, however, prevented that from happening after signing Betts to a historic 12-year extension on the eve of Opening Day.
The deal was worth a reported $365 million. Combined with the one-year, $27 million contract he’s currently playing out, Betts’ total comes to 13 years and $392 million.
That tops the previous extension record of $360 million signed by Mike Trout with the L.A. Angels in 2019. Having gone through the process himself, Trout sent a congratulatory text to Betts and is happy he found a long-term home with the Dodgers, via ESPN’s Jeff Passan:
“I’m excited for him,” said Trout, who texted his congratulations to Betts. “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.’’
With Trout and Betts’ respective long-term futures resolved, Southern California is now home to arguably the two best position players in all of baseball.
Through his first 16 games with the Dodgers, Betts is batting a solid .279/.333/.574 with six doubles, four home runs and 10 RBI across 61 at-bats. He’s tied with Max Muncy and AJ Pollock for the team lead in home runs.
Betts unable to explain finger injury
After being held out of the Dodgers’ series opener against the San Diego Padres, Betts appeared in each of the next two games at Petco Park as a defensive replacement.
He returned to the lineup last weekend against the San Francisco Giants but could not provide many details on the sore finger that gave him trouble. “I don’t exactly know what happened. It was just a weird swing and somehow it jammed my finger. That was the first time that’s ever happened,” Betts said last Friday.
“There was just a lot of swelling and I couldn’t really hold a bat. The training staff did an amazing job getting the swelling out of there and getting my back on the field.”
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