Major League Baseball released its schedule for an unprecedented 60-game season on Monday, on a day when the return of the sport felt particularly exaggerated. The Houston Astros, Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals canceled their training due to delays in test results, and the Oakland Athletics have yet to incorporate position players due to a similar problem.
With that as a backdrop, Mookie Betts was asked about his chances of adjusting to the Los Angeles Dodgers this year, or ever, given his pending free agency.
“I still have my doubts, just what is going on,” Betts said. “I am definitely preparing in the same way; I am waiting to play. But that does not mean that there are no doubts that will happen when the facts are not in front of you.”
Betts joined the Dodgers alongside David Price in a five-player trade in February and had four weeks with his new team before the coronavirus pandemic postponed next season. Three months later, after a contentious labor dispute and amid coronavirus cases across the country, MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed on the framework of a season. But the first four days of what the league has called “Summer Camp” have already produced logistical problems regarding the COVID-19 tests, a problem exacerbated by the holiday weekend.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who will guide his players through inter-team scrimmage on Monday afternoon, said his team received all of its admission test results and that testing “has accelerated, has been fluid “from their perspective.
Betts, however, is not as optimistic.
“I can’t say I’m so confident because they haven’t shown me yet,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to trust something that hasn’t proven infallible. There really isn’t much I can do; it’s out of my control. But it’s under someone’s control, and whoever is in control has to find a way to make it work or this whole operation may not work. “
If the season is played, Betts will play alongside current National League MVP Cody Bellinger and complete one of the deepest lineups in baseball history. But the status of the Dodgers’ pitching staff has become a bit more uncertain in recent days, with Jimmy Nelson deciding to undergo back surgery and Price announcing that he would opt out, joining a roster that has grown to include eight players.
Betts said it “fully” supports Price’s decision.
“He has to take care of himself. And if that’s what he feels is best for him and his family, then I totally agree. He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had, he’s a competitor, he plays the game the way Right, great at the clubhouse. He’s doing this himself, and sometimes you have to do things for yourself. “
Betts, 27, is widely regarded as the best baseball player outside of Mike Trout and was apparently in line to beat Trout’s $ 426.5 million contract record this offseason. But baseball’s financial landscape has changed dramatically due to the pandemic, creating uncertainty about what the Betts market might look like.
Players who choose not to play and are not considered high-risk individuals do not receive compensation or service time for the 2020 season. Betts admitted that those circumstances played a factor in their decision to play, given that their free agency would have been delayed by a year. if you had joined Price to choose not to participate. Betts reportedly rejected a $ 300 million extension to the Red Sox last season, but said he has no regrets.
“Once I make a decision, I make a decision,” Betts added. “I won’t question myself again. I don’t care about that. The market will be what the market is. We’ll just cross that bridge when we get there. But for now, it’s just the [health and safety] things that worry me. All that [free agency] it’s in the background. “
The Dodgers will open their season against the San Francisco Giants on July 23 on ESPN and will play their first two series on the road against the Houston Astros and the Arizona Diamondbacks, likely playing indoors in two states that have experienced a significant increase in coronavirus cases. The Dodgers will host the Astros Sept. 12-13, but fans will likely not be allowed at Dodger Stadium by then, and many wonder if the MLB can go that far on their schedule.
Four-time All-Star winner and four-time Gold Glove Award winner Betts is among an ever-growing list of increasingly cautious players.
“We have closed camps and people who go three and four days without evidence,” Betts said. “You just don’t know what’s going on. And I know it’s difficult. I’m not blaming or saying this, that and that. It’s difficult. But someone has to do it. And we have to find the right way to do it.”
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