Boston Red Sox trading outfielder Mookie Betts was inevitable
The Mookie Betts trade had to happen. He was asking for too much money, and he was going to leave. The Red Sox were lucky to get some return out of it.
There has been a ton of backlash as a result of the Mookie Betts trade – mainly deserved for the Red Sox – but this trade was inevitable. Unlike 99% of Red Sox Nation, I am not entirely upset at the Red Sox for it.
As a fan, I’m upset. I love Mookie Betts. He was a rare five-tool player and had the potential to be one of the best Red Sox players of all time. Which is why this trade stings. He was so fun to watch, so charismatic, and loved by everyone who witnessed him play.
That being said, this trade had to happen. No one likes to hear that, but it’s the reality. Mookie was not going to stay in Boston. The Red Sox offered him 10 years and $300 million (a bit of a lowball) and he wanted 12 years for $420 million.
No one in MLB deserves a 12-year, $420 million deal, in my opinion. Not Mike Trout, not Mookie Betts. It’s simply too long, and too much money for anyone. No matter how good. I wouldn’t give that to Babe Ruth. That’s how I feel about it. I don’t want to be paying Betts $35 million a year when he is 36-39 years old. Who knows if he’s even this good in six years? It’s too much money for any team to have tied into one player for that long.
It makes me think of the Albert Pujols contract. Here the Angels are in 2020 paying Pujols $29 million to bat .240. Not saying that will happen with Betts, but still.
Another reason I wouldn’t do this is exemplified by the Angels. They are paying Trout $430 million for 12 years and Anthony Rendon $245 million for seven years. That’s $675 million tied up into two position players! You can’t win like that because you can’t pay anyone else! That’s why I don’t think you pay Mookie that. Too much money tied to one player. And I get that it’s Mookie Betts. To me it doesn’t matter.
Now, if the Red Sox could’ve met Betts at 10 years fo $320 million? I’d be fine with that. To me, those two extra years are a big factor. But Mookie clearly didn’t want that. He asked for a number that the Red Sox were never going to give him. Throughout his time with the Red Sox he swept their negotiations under the rug. He did not want to stay. Wanting to stay is not asking for 12 years and $420 million, a number the Red Sox just won’t meet.
He may have wanted the best of both worlds, money and the Red Sox, but his high asking price indicates that he really wanted money over Boston.
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Yes the Red Sox have money, and that has never been an issue. The tax is also an issue. The Red Sox have never really cared about it in the past and it wasn’t the driving force for not giving Mookie the deal, but it’s something to think about. This thought process of trading him is a combination of factors that include the tax, but also Mookie’s unique situation in that he was most likely not going to come back. So the Red Sox had to create some return.
Boston had no leverage to make this deal because every GM in MLB knew they had to make the deal. They got a fine return. It’s better than nothing. These guys could be boom or bust, but it’s better than nothing. People saying they got bamboozled are right in a sense; they gave up one of the best player’s in baseball. But they had to. He was leaving. Fans can’t get that through their heads. Bloom made the best out of this awful situation that he was put in to by the team, and did a decent job with it.
The alternative to the trade was this: another year of Mookie, the Red Sox are mediocre and get 85-90 wins with a new manager, they play a Wild Card game, Betts leaves in free agency, gets his money, and the Red Sox are left to dry with no return. To add on to that, we have to keep paying David Price, who will never and was never supposed to live up to his contract. That’s a reality that not a lot of people want to look at, but that’s what was going to happen.
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Mookie was not going to stay in Boston. He wants his money (and I respect him for that), but the money he wants is not going to be given to him by the Red Sox.