Los Angeles Dodgers are taking a huge risk with Mookie Betts deal

It looks like Mookie Betts won’t need the free-agent market after all. The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder is close to signing an extension. 

The eve before Opening Day, Mookie Betts, and the Los Angeles Dodgers may finally have come to a contract agreement. MLB.com Executive Reporter & MLB Network Insider Mark Feinsand reported the news on Twitter.

Earlier in the week, Jeff Passan of ESPN Tweeted that the two sides were on track to reach an agreement.

The star Dodgers outfielder is closing in on a long-term contract extension. The deal could be worth between $350-$400 million over 10-plus years. If there was no season, it could have meant that Betts would never play a game for the Dodgers. That could have gone done as one of the worst trades ever.

In regards to massive baseball contracts, this is a doozy. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels agreed to a 12-year, $426 million deal in March 2019. At the time, Trout’s deal was the richest contract in North American sports history. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes would surpass it. The Super Bowl MVP was rewarded with a 10-year, $504 million extension, the first half-billion contract ever.

But, there’s also Bryce Harper’s contract, the outfielder signed a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 27-year old, a lifetime .301 hitter and 2018 AL MVP was one of the best position players before Boston traded him to Los Angeles in February. Betts and teammate David Price went one way while the Dodgers gave up Jeter Downs, Alex Verdugo, and catcher Connor Wong.

The four-time All-Star was fortunate enough to avoid arbitration with Boston last season by signing a one-year, $27 million deal. Betts spent six seasons with the Red Sox, with 139 home runs, 470 RBI, while hitting .301/.374/.519/.893. Along with a World Series ring, he’s a four-time Gold Glove Award winner.

Betts has an elite talent the Dodgers were eyeing for to end a 32-year championship drought. They are confident they could convince Betts to stay in Los Angeles for a near-decade.

Among Betts, there’s Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Corey Seager, Gavin Lux, and Will Smith. The Dodgers are primed to maintain their spot as one of baseball’s elite teams. They have won seven consecutive NL West division titles while losing in back-to-back World Series.

Betts signing a lucrative extension would rule out any idea of him returning to Fenway Park. Red Sox fans will have to accept the fact that their former star will be the face of a different franchise.