No one would blame Mookie Betts if money crossed his mind from time to time. The Boston Red Sox right fielder is under team control through 2020, but he’s already established himself as one of the best players in Major League Baseball, positioning him for a huge payday upon reaching free agency.
That said, Betts, who will earn $10.5 million in 2018 after winning an arbitration case over the offseason, insists he isn’t focused on his next contract, even after seeing teammate Christian Vazquez sign a three-year extension Saturday. He’ll sign his own lucrative, long-term deal in time — as long as he continues to perform at a high level — so he’s not stressing out about whether to sacrifice a few extra bucks for the guaranteed financial security that comes with signing an extension before hitting the open market.
“Everybody handles things differently. It’s one of those things you don’t want to get a whole lot of people involved. There are so many things that can go on. So I just stay out of the way,” Betts told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford on Sunday. “I talked to some people about it, how the process went. But I didn’t really ask details about what they got or what was offered. It was more just about how the process went. It can be a tough process. You’re dealing with a lot of money.
“I definitely learned to keep one focus. When you put the two together that’s when you get messed up. It’s tough. Some things you just have to do and those are one of those things that you have to do it.”
Betts had a down season in 2017 relative to 2016, when he finished second in American League MVP voting behind Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout. But he still was elite, impacting the game with his bat, his glove and his legs. Few players across the league are as talented as Betts, who’s only 25 years old and seemingly just scratching the surface.
It’ll make for interesting contract negotiations moving forward, especially with him earning such an unusually large amount this past offseason for a player in his first year of arbitration eligibility. But Betts acknowledges he’s gotten much better at avoiding the distractions that come with questions regarding his long-term future.
“You just don’t want it to linger and think about why you’re playing. It just takes some self-control,” Betts told WEEI.com. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping those type of things separate and focusing on one thing, and that’s going out and playing.”
So far, so good.
