Mookie Betts
Age: 24
Contract Status: Arbitration Eligible 2018, Free Agency 2021
Rival GMs that place a call to inquire about Betts should be prepared to be met with a hearty laugh, followed by the sound of a dial tone. As a runner-up for the MVP award who still hasn’t reached his arbitration years, Betts is arguably the most valuable asset in baseball.
Betts is coming off of an outstanding season in which he finished second in the league in batting average and runs scored, fourth in extra-base hits and eighth in OPS. He’s the only player in the majors that topped 30 home runs and 25 steals this season. He was fourth in the league with 113 RBI, despite spending the bulk of the season in the lead-off spot. Betts had the most Defensive Runs Saved of any player at any position and he finished second only to Mike Trout with a 9.6 WAR.
He also hasn’t even approached his peak yet.
There is not a single player in baseball that I would trade straight up for Betts. Trout might be marginally better statistically, but he also makes more money. Clayton Kershaw is a heck of a pitcher, but give me the position player that is on the field contributing to victories almost every game.
If a team wants to start packaging multiple young superstars or sell every top prospect in their farm system, then we’ll talk. Nobody is actually untouchable if the offer is sweet enough, but realistically no team is going to part with the type of package that would even get Dombrowski’s attention.
The Red Sox resisted the temptation to part with young players like Betts when they were skyrocketing through the system and their patience has paid off. Now they can reap the rewards of having a cost-controlled superstar during the best years of his career.
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Betts isn’t going anywhere right now and if they manage to lock him up before he hits free agency then he’ll remain in Boston for a long time.