Tom Werner Sheds Light On Red Sox’s Contract Talks With Mookie Betts

Don’t expect Mookie Betts to follow in the footsteps of Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts — not yet, at least.

The Boston Red Sox recently signed Sale and Bogaerts to nine-figure contract extensions, but it doesn’t sound like anything is imminent with Betts, who can become a free agent after the 2020 season.

“We’re hopeful,” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said Tuesday on WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe” of reaching a new deal with Betts, per MassLive.com. “Of course, he has two years left with the Red Sox. So it’s probably not going to happen at all now that the season has started. But we’ll get another shot at it next year. Our hope is he’ll also play out his career as a Red Sox.”

Betts is coming off a monster 2018 season in which he hit .346 with 32 home runs, 80 RBIs, 30 stolen bases and a 1.078 OPS. He secured an All-Star selection, a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and the American League MVP award for the Red Sox, who racked up a franchise-record 108 wins in the regular season en route to a World Series title.

No matter how you slice it, Betts has established himself as one of the best players in Major League Baseball over the past few seasons. While he might want to stay in Boston long-term, the 26-year-old also realizes the money he could make by playing out his current contract and testing the open market after next season, especially with Mike Trout — perhaps the only player better than Betts right now — signing a 12-year, $430 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels last month.

“I think it’s perfectly appropriate for him to look for the money that he deserves,” Werner said. “He was an MVP in the league last year and hopefully we’ll come to some sort of understanding.”

Sale signed a five-year, $145 million contract extension with Boston in March, and Bogaerts inked a six-year, $120 million extension earlier this month. Both players were slated to become free agents after the 2019 season.