Mookie Betts likely will finish his career in Los Angeles after the All-Star outfielder signed a 12-year extension with the Dodgers on Wednesday.
Betts spent the first six seasons of his Major League Baseball career with the Boston Red Sox, winning four Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, an MVP and a World Series title in 2018. He was traded to LA in February and was expected to test the free agent market — something the four-time All-Star said he wanted to do.
But things changed and Betts is ready to begin his next chapter in a new uniform. And for Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed.
“Obviously, we think the world of Mookie Betts,” Kennedy said, via MassLive.com. “I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody. Incredible young man, incredible baseball player. Very happy for him and his family. I’d be less than honest if I didn’t say there was a sense of disappointment and maybe closure and finality to it.”
Even though fans likely expected Betts’ Boston tenure to last longer, Kennedy is optimistic about the future.
“We have a plan,” he said. “We are very confident in the direction of our baseball operation. It’s obviously hard to see Mookie Betts sign a long-term deal somewhere else. We wish him well and we now move on as a group.”
Only time will tell what the plan is. But for now, the Sox are preparing for Opening Day on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles.
