Despite a relatively quiet start to the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers wound up making one of the biggest splashes by acquiring Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox last month. The blockbuster trade saw Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong head to Boston.
The addition of Betts gave the Dodgers an unprecedented three former MVP winners on the roster. Clayton Kershaw was named National League MVP in 2014, Betts won the American League version of the award in 2018, and Cody Bellinger most recently took home honors last season.
Bellinger was able to parlay his accolade into the largest salary for any first-year arbitration-eligible player, agreeing to a one-year, $11.5 million contract for the 2020 season.
While Betts is a full year removed from his MVP campaign, he admitted there was more pressure following the 2018 campaign but much of that was external, via href=”https://www.ocregister.com/2020/03/05/will-things-change-for-cody-bellinger-now-that-he-has-an-mvp-award/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Obviously opportunities come off the field,” Betts said of the MVP aftermath. “Those are things that you can’t really control, you can’t do anything about. I think a lot of things change but it’s not because you go out and try to make them change. People change around you. You may feel a little more pressure because you were an MVP and now have to back it up. But I think that’s all from other people.”
In 136 games during the 2018 season, Betts led the AL in batting average (.346), slugging percentage (.640) and runs scored. He hit an overall .346/.438/.640 with 84 extra-base hits in 614 plate appearances, accumulating 10.9 WAR for his efforts (Baseball-Reference).
Betts’ overall production dipped a bit last year, but he still thrived to the tune of a .295/.391/.524 batting line with 40 doubles, five triples, 29 home runs, 80 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 706 plate appearances (150 games).
Betts now hopes to make a seamless transition to the NL and is already having a positive impact on the Dodgers clubhouse. He took on a leadership role and is being lauded for creating a system that requires players to pay a fee for every miscue during Cactus League workouts and games.
Betts’ presence presumably will alleviate some of the pressure on Bellinger, as the Dodgers’ lineup appears all the more potent. Of course, that’s contingent on a 2020 season being played.
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