Mookie Betts is a generational talent that any team, especially a large market franchise, must do everything in their power to keep as long as possible. The Dodgers acted accordingly, while the Red Sox did not.
Boston prioritized resetting luxury tax penalties instead of keeping its best player in February, before his last year in free agency. The Dodgers jumped at risk with their sights set on the reward, trading for Betts and pitcher David Price.
“When we made that trade, we did it with more than 2020 in mind,” Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday. “We appreciate the risk that came with that. But we did it with our eyes wide open and the commitment of all of us that we would do everything possible to try to keep Mookie here for the rest of his career. “
With a 12-year, $ 365 million deal that takes Betts into his 39-year season in 2032, the Dodgers may have done just that.
Betts is 27 this season. The length of your contract will take you through your first years, and more. It does almost everything well on a baseball field. He hits, he has power, he runs the bases well, he is an excellent outfielder and has a great conscience on the field. And he made a good impression in the five months he’s been with the Dodgers.
“When you are making an investment of this magnitude, you are not only betting on the skill of the player, but you are also betting on the person,” Friedman said. “We couldn’t be more comfortable making that bet at Mookie Betts.”
The Highest War, 2015-19
| Player | Age 2020 | fWAR | rWAR | Half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Age 2020 | fWAR | rWAR | Half |
| Mike Trout | 28 | 44.2 | 45.1 | 44.7 |
| Mookie Betts | 27 | 35.4 | 39.5 | 37.5 |
| Nolan Arenado | 29 | 26.9 | 31.4 | 29.2 |
| Jose Altuve | 30 | 27.2 | 28.0 | 27.6 |
| Francisco Lindor | 26 | 27.2 | 27.6 | 27.4 |
| Christian Yelich | 28 | 27.7 | 26.4 | 27.1 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 32 | 25.5 | 28.3 | 26.9 |
| Josh Donaldson | 3. 4 | 27.6 | 25.6 | 26.6 |
| Kris Bryant | 28 | 27.8 | 23.9 | 25.9 |
| Manny Machado | 27 | 24.6 | 27.0 | 25.8 |
rWAR = Baseball Reference War
Betts’ first full season was in 2015 with Boston. Since then, the only other player with the most wins over replacement is Mike Trout. In addition to Trout and Betts, the only other player since 2015 to average 6+ WARs per year is Alex Bregman (in his three full seasons, 2017-19). Nolan Arenado also averaged 6.3 WAR in the past five years on Baseball-Reference, but averaged 5.4 WAR on FanGraphs.
In 2018 Betts had its best season to date, hitting .346 / .438 / .640 with 32 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 47 doubles. He led 10 WAR in both versions, won the American League MVP, and won a World Series over the Dodgers, helping to secure the series with a home run in Game 5.
That was his last game at Dodger Stadium that counted. Next is Thursday night, when the Dodgers open their 2020 season at home against the Giants. And probably several hundred more after that.
“From the moment I’ve been here, the people here have made me feel very comfortable. You see talent up and down in the minor leagues, everyone in the main office from owner down, everyone is amazing, ”Betts said. “I think this organization is a well-oiled machine.”
That well-oiled machine has won seven consecutive division titles, one for each full season of the Dodgers’ owning group. They did two World Series, but have not yet won that final award. They have remained competitive, with 91 wins at the lowest point in the past seven years, all while rebuilding the player development system at the same time.
The Dodgers’ farm system ranked third in baseball this year by Baseball America and MLB.com, as the major league team is the World Series favorite for various projection systems.
“We have talked about this a lot, trying to create a destination where players who are here don’t want to leave, and players from abroad are looking forward to our organization and want to play here,” Friedman said. “So I was hoping to make a good impression on Mookie with just the communication and the people that we have, and the culture that has been created.”
That impression was clearly made, although there were obstacles. The relationship built at spring training, even when Betts led a team meeting on one of his first days in camp, was cut short when the coronavirus pandemic closed the season.
Friedman spoke to Betts and his agent about a possible extension during spring training, but those conversations were suspended along with everything else in the baseball world. Negotiations started again last week, aiming for a contract before Opening Day, to avoid the distraction of having such talks during the season.
Given the loss of baseball income during the pandemic, and a season that begins and possibly ends without fans in the stands, this winter’s free agent market seems impossible to predict. Although Betts was going to be first prize this winter, the outlook for their next deal probably looked very different in July than it did in March before the sport closed.
“The market was not what worried me. Only fair value. That has been my number one thing in my entire career. Just the value, and that’s it, ”said Betts. “Once we got to that point, and being in a place that I love to be in, the game is perfect.”
The Dodgers recognized that value and managed to have one of the best players in the baseball game for them for a long time.
