How Much Money Will The Virus Cost Mookie Betts In Free Agency?
A lot. That’s the answer. One of the trickle-down effects the virus is having on MLB is it’s going to hurt free agency. With teams making no money to this point, free agents won’t have nearly the same chance to cash in. Nobody will get screwed over quite like Mookie Betts. There was a thought that Betts could sign a contract that comes close to Mike Trout’s 12-year $420 million deal. NOW? Probably won’t come close.
Old man Peter Gammons (Yes, I’m aware he’s lost it. BUT, he’s right here. No way to slice it. Betts lost a lot of money from this virus.) made appearance Wednesday on 670 The Score’s “Mully & Haugh Show,”. He talked about Betts’ upcoming contract:
“There are few people that I like better in baseball than Mookie Betts. I thought he was going to make between $350 (million) to $400 million,” Gammons said.
“He’d be lucky to get up to $250 (million) in free agency this coming winter if they play (this season). It’s just the reality of economics. It’s true in almost every business.”
“The game has no chance of being restored to where they want it to go until 2023,” Gammons said.
Gammons is on the money. Betts is going to lose a lot of money. Now, he’s still going to get the motherload. Still, in hindsight, he probably would have been better off taking the lucrative contract extension Boston offered him in the $300 million range. Betts had every right to bet on himself. I don’t think anybody saw this virus coming so he’s really not going to get the chance to do so.
I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles. See you back in Boston next year, Mookie. For a lot less than it otherwise would have been too with the trade pieces from the Dodgers also on the roster.
