Mookie Betts is a man who just wants to be appreciated.
The Boston Red Sox star doesn’t appear like he will be accepting any contract from the ball club before he can become a free agent in late 2020.
The American League MVP is content to remain on track for testing the market, especially after seeing Mike Trout’s $430 million, 12-year agreement with the Los Angeles Angels — Alex Bregman’s pending $100 million, six-year contract with the Houston Astros — and Bryce Harper’s 13-year $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
“That’s exactly what I expect,” he said Wednesday, the day after Trout’s deal became widely known. “Didn’t expect anything to happen until I’m a free agent. So, it’s just one of those things where you just got to go out and play. Can’t worry about the economics of the game right now. They have to take care of what they have to take care of. I’m going to take care of what I have to take care of. But the common thing is to win a World Series, and I think that’s definitely what we both want to do.”
Before all those contracts were given out, Betts revealed that the Sox gave him a offer last season, but he sounded like a man who felt disrespected by it.
Betts is correctly betting on himself to continue to produce, as he delivered an MVP award and a World Series title in 2018.
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“I’m under no pressure to do anything,” Betts said. “It’s OK for two sides to disagree. That’s perfectly fine. It’s normal. I got two more years, going to make the best of them. Got to worry about Year 1 right here. I’m going out and doing my best to help the team win, and also next year. It’s just one of those things where it’s all right to disagree.”
The 26-year-old is definitely looking to put in the range of the $300-$400 million that Harper and Trout got.
