Red Sox/MLB Buffalo Blue Jays - Mookie Betts agrees to sign 12-year, $365 million contract extension with LA

[CDJ]

Kind of unbelievable that the AAV is as low as it is, but I guess if you're getting paid until your 40 then it makes sense. I probably would have signed him to that deal, but it wouldn't have necessarily been a good decision.

Maybe he just didn't want to stay in Boston, but the annoying thing is that their shitty contract management made it so it was going to cost them a lot more money to re-sign him than anyone else, so it just comes back to bad management. Since Theo left, they've had no consistency in direction. Hopefully Bloom's here for the long haul and we'll get back to not making crazy, spur-of-the-moment decisions.

that’s exactly right. There’s been no continuity at all, and while that’s been surprisingly successful in terms of winning WS, it sets you up for situations like this where your hand is more or less forced

 

[Gator Mike]

at the end of the day Dodger fans will get to watch an elite player for the foreseeable future while we (Henry I mean) saves money. Im excited! aren't you?

Didn't we go over this a few months ago? If the Red Sox had offered Mookie the same 12-year, $380 million deal that got him signed, it would have cost them somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 million once luxury taxes are figured in.

And even if you think that Betts is worth the $380 million and that Henry and FSG can afford the $600 million, at some point, don't you have to come to a conclusion that the money could be spent more efficiently than just on one player? Even if he's a generational talent?

Also at the end of the day, there isn't a Dodger fan alive that wouldn't trade their last 20 years for our last 20.

 

[KrejciMVP]

Didn't we go over this a few months ago? If the Red Sox had offered Mookie the same 12-year, $380 million deal that got him signed, it would have cost them somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 million once luxury taxes are figured in.

And even if you think that Betts is worth the $380 million and that Henry and FSG can afford the $600 million, at some point, don't you have to come to a conclusion that the money could be spent more efficiently than just on one player? Even if he's a generational talent?

Also at the end of the day, there isn't a Dodger fan alive that wouldn't trade their last 20 years for our last 20.

sure we discussed it but today we can discuss it more. I am listening to F&M and they said if Mookie really wanted to be here he would take a home town discount. Do baseball players who are elite FA's take hometown discounts? Are there examples of that recently? A hockey player I can see taking a hometown discount, and the NFL, but the MLB?

 

[KrejciMVP]

 

[LSCII]

HAHAHAHAHA!! Is it mean that I find this funny for some reason?

 

[KrejciMVP]

HAHAHAHAHA!! Is it mean that I find this funny for some reason?

I'm still holding out hope they play these in Montreal somehow

 

[McGarnagle]

HAHAHAHAHA!! Is it mean that I find this funny for some reason?

It's hilarious.

I hope the Blue Jays become a traveling team with no home.

 

[talkinaway]

Seems weird to give the Pirates the go-ahead, but deny the Jays. But it would probably cause twice as many games to be played, including some doubleheaders for the grounds crew. It's probably better to either find a ballpark that nobody else is using, or play "home games as away games" to even out the load among the 9 teams.

 

[McGarnagle]

Seems weird to give the Pirates the go-ahead, but deny the Jays. But it would probably cause twice as many games to be played, including some doubleheaders for the grounds crew. It's probably better to either find a ballpark that nobody else is using, or play "home games as away games" to even out the load among the 9 teams.

It seems like a petty move, but it actually checks out. It's not just twice as many games, but twice as many teams coming in - Jays bring in AL East and NL East teams in addition to the NL Central and AL Central teams coming in to play the Pirates. So that;s twice as many people from a different region of the US. I see why they'd be cautious.

Buffalo still makes the most sense, but I know the Jays want a major league park with its amenities.

 

[talkinaway]

It seems like a petty move, but it actually checks out. It's not just twice as many games, but twice as many teams coming in - Jays bring in AL East and NL East teams in addition to the NL Central and AL Central teams coming in to play the Pirates. So that;s twice as many people from a different region of the US. I see why they'd be cautious.

Buffalo still makes the most sense, but I know the Jays want a major league park with its amenities.

Ah, I didn't even realize that Pittsburgh was NL Central, not NL East. That's even a stronger argument to nix the Jays from sharing Pittsburgh- 20 teams coming into your park instead of 10. But even sharing, for example, Fenway Park would create twice as many games total at Fenway, and you would inevitably have four teams sharing the park for a 3 day period.

I don't think the Jays can just set up camp in one MLB ballpark for all 30 of their home games. Find a minor league ballpark, or divide the home games among the other 9 ballparks. I think the latter makes the most sense, logistically speaking. Grounds crew, etc., are already activated for the other 9 clubs - they just each have to add 3-7 more days to their schedule.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I've been to both as well and totally agree with you.

I've probably been to 20 or so different ballparks. My top 10, in no particular order are:

Post reno Fenway
Post reno Wrigley (although getting there is a giant pain in the ass)
Camden Yards (Baltimore)
Petco (San Diego)
Dodger Stadium (LA)
Citizens Bank Park (Philly, great ballpark, asshole fans)
PNC (Pittsburgh)
Target Field (Minneapolis)
Miller Park (Milwaukee, tailgating in the parking lot is a Wisconsin tradition)

....if I'm honest, Busch Stadium in St Louis is nice as well, but its very, very hard for me to ever say anything nice about the St Louis Cardinals

Citi Field during a day game is a fantastic experience. It feels a lot more fan friendly than yankee stadium.

 

[N o o d l e s]

What's the reasoning for hockey being allowed in Toronto but not baseball? It it the travel?

 

[Gator Mike]

If the Jays need somewhere to play, they should seriously consider some ACC or SEC stadiums - many of which have MLB-caliber amenities.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

What's the reasoning for hockey being allowed in Toronto but not baseball? It it the travel?

Every NHL team is going to Canada so there is not going to be any cross border travel.

 

[McGarnagle]

What's the reasoning for hockey being allowed in Toronto but not baseball? It it the travel?

Yes. It's crossing an international border and mandatory quarantining that is an issue, Canada won't make exceptions to bring MLB teams back and forth over a closed border.

 

[RoccoF14]

If the Jays need somewhere to play, they should seriously consider some ACC or SEC stadiums - many of which have MLB-caliber amenities.

Another thought would be to play in Omaha at the CWS Venue.

The travel would be a little longer, but not much more difficult than Florida....

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

Can't say that I'm mad. I wouldn't have given him that gigantic contract.

 

[LSCII]

Didn't we go over this a few months ago? If the Red Sox had offered Mookie the same 12-year, $380 million deal that got him signed, it would have cost them somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 million once luxury taxes are figured in.

And even if you think that Betts is worth the $380 million and that Henry and FSG can afford the $600 million, at some point, don't you have to come to a conclusion that the money could be spent more efficiently than just on one player? Even if he's a generational talent?

Also at the end of the day, there isn't a Dodger fan alive that wouldn't trade their last 20 years for our last 20.

We did go over this before, and just like then, the team doesn't get to royally f*** the cap up and then use it as an excuse to let key players walk. They could have easily fixed this issue by moving other guys and bundling other assets with Price to get a team to eat that money. Could also have moved Eovaldi and JBJ to get some breathing room. So it's not like they only had one move to fix the issue, and that Betts HAD to go. They could have done other things.

But let's not let this false narrative distract from what happened here. The Red Sox simply didn't want to extend Betts on a deal that was for this much money and ran for this many years.

 

[CDJ]

I wouldn’t let anybody from the US enter Canada if I was Canada either

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I wouldn’t let anybody from the US enter Canada if I was Canada either

then this also eliminates Buffalo and Manchester, not just Denedin, but they will allow 12 Eastern teams in Toronto.... but not the franchise that's representing the country.... imagine if the Leafs were told you cannot play in Scotiabank Centre

 

[BMC]

Can't say that I'm mad. I wouldn't have given him that gigantic contract.

He'll be 39 when that contract expires, if he's even still playing by then.

No, I wouldn't have given him that contract either. I bet LA ends up trading him to get out from under it within 5-7 years.

 

[CDJ]

I just saw somebody in the fb comments on NESN call Barnes and Brasier the Arson brothers and called them Barnburner and Blazer because they throw gas on the fire

I don’t necessarily agree with the Barnes take as I feel he’s fine as a middle reliever but I died laughing

 

[JEM28]

sure we discussed it but today we can discuss it more. I am listening to F&M and they said if Mookie really wanted to be here he would take a home town discount. Do baseball players who are elite FA's take hometown discounts? Are there examples of that recently? A hockey player I can see taking a hometown discount, and the NFL, but the MLB?

If you believe Sports Illustrated’s article today, the Sox offer 10 yrs $300M, and Betts camp said they wanted 13 years $420M.

as other posters have mentioned there’d be huge luxury tax implications of that signing or anything close.

For me the bigger disappointment was the depletion of the farm system under Dumbo, then the way they chose to spend money after moving Mookie and Price. Sale, clearly having lingering arm problems, for 5 years at approx $30M. Yikes.

They got it right with Xander anyway in my view.

 

[JRull86]

I just saw somebody in the fb comments on NESN call Barnes and Brasier the Arson brothers and called them Barnburner and Blazer because they throw gas on the fire

I don’t necessarily agree with the Barnes take as I feel he’s fine as a middle reliever but I died laughing

Barnes is fine 80% of the time.

Braiser has been a disaster since the beginning of last year.

 

[CDJ]

If you believe Sports Illustrated’s article today, the Sox offer 10 yrs $300M, and Betts camp said they wanted 13 years $420M.

as other posters have mentioned there’d be huge luxury tax implications of that signing or anything close.

For me the bigger disappointment was the depletion of the farm system under Dumbo, then the way they chose to spend money after moving Mookie and Price. Sale, clearly having lingering arm problems, for 5 years at approx $30M. Yikes.

They got it right with Xander anyway in my view.

in fairness Sale was before Mookie/Price got dealt- the contract was pretty unnecessary at the time though in hindsight, that’s for sure