The Los Angeles Dodgers and star outfielder Mookie Betts have agreed to a 13-year, $380 million contract extension that makes him the second-highest-paid player in Major League Baseball behind Mike Trout.
Including 2020, the new deal is expected to keep Mookie Betts in a Dodger uniform for 13 years at more than $380 million.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 22, 2020
Reports were swirling early Wednesday morning that both sides were working on an extension and a deal was imminent.
What makes this deal somewhat of a head-scratcher is that Betts has yet to take a regular-season at-bat in a Dodger uniform.
After being traded along with David Price to the Dodgers, the former Red Sox outfielder was expected to be a highly-coveted player at the season’s conclusion. The Dodgers obviously wanted to prevent that at all costs as evidenced by today’s deal.
Many teams were expected to make an offer to the right fielder if he hit the market. At the top of the list was the Boston Red Sox, whose fans expected the Dodgers would only “rent” him for a season. They believed that he liked Boston so much that he would possibly take a discount to rejoin them.
The four-time All-Star will be 40 years old when he enters the last year of this new contract.
