Brook Smith, the senior editor at Dodgers Nation, asked Mookie Betts a question many Boston Red Sox fans want to know the answer to.
“Mookie, I hate to look back on the past since we’re so excited about the future with you, but if the Red Sox had offered you any kind of similar deal is that something you would’ve taken?,” Smith asked. “Or is the fact that it’s with this team, this city play into it at all?”
The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, however, somewhat deflected in his response. It came during Wednesday’s press conference after the Dodgers officially signed Betts to a 12-year extension.
“Um, I think that’s a very valid question,” Betts said. “You know, I think I just want to stick with, I’m here, in LA, for 12, 13 years. I’m super excited about this opportunity. Like I said, the goal is to bring back some rings over this period of time and that’s what I’m going to be here and work for.”
You can listen to the question/response at the 24:50 mark in the press conference tweeted by the Dodgers.
LIVE: @mookiebetts press conference from Dodger Stadium https://t.co/ksX6qLkhQ7
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2020
Betts did say earlier that while he didn’t necessarily ever think about staying in the one city for 13 years, he wouldn’t want to do it with “anybody else.”
“You know, I don’t if I ever thought about 13 years, I do know this is essentially what I’ve been doing my whole life, what I’ve been working toward my whole life,” Betts said. “I don’t think at any point did we (him and parents) imagine it would be 13 years, but I don’t think it’s very surprising either.
“Obviously, it’s a long-term commitment, but I wouldn’t want it with anybody else, other than an organization like this.”
Betts now will remain with the Dodgers through the 2032 season. And while the numbers are not yet official, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Betts will earn $392 million over the next 13 years, including his one-year, $27 million contract for the 2020 campaign.
