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Mookie Betts Made a Mistake Not Taking a Huge Contract Extension From the Red Sox

By Sean Facey

Boston Red Sox v Detroit Tigers
Boston Red Sox v Detroit Tigers / Duane Burleson/Getty Images

By the end of 2018, everything was coming up roses for Red Sox star Mookie Betts. He was a World Series champion, a silver slugger, a gold glover, an All-Star and an MVP. Boston's young stud seemed destined to net himself one of the largest contracts in the game.

But instead of being open to contract extension talks with the Sox, he took a gamble and bet on himself to replicate his 2018 success in order to drive up his asking price even more, and it's turned out to be a massive mistake.

His production has taken a sharp dip this year. After posting 10.4 fWAR in 2018 with an absurd .346/.438/.640 slash line, he's underwhelmed immensely. He still ranks among the top 25 position players in fWAR this season, and while his .859 OPS is by no means bad, it's a far cry from what many expected of him.

So far in his six-year career, 2018 stands as more of an outlier than anything. It's the only time he's ever topped a 140 wRC+ or finished with an OPS over .900, and it's only the second time he's ever put up more than 6.0 fWAR.

Last year, there was hope that the young superstar would sign an extension with an average annual value north of $36 million. This year, there's a strong contingent of Red Sox fans who would NOT want to see him hamstring their financial situation by signing a huge contract.

Good-not-great performances like this 2019 campaign will end up costing him greatly. He may have shown a flash of his full potential last year, but unless he can replicate that again over the next year and a half, no team is going to shell out a $300 or $400 million contract for him once he hits free agency in 2020.

Betts would have been wise to push for an extension when he was at his peak. 10-win seasons don't come around every day, even for the game's greatest players. He could have asked for the moon and the Red Sox might've given it to him.

Now he has an uphill battle to prove himself again before he hits free agency. The clock is ticking, and if he doesn't find himself back in 2018 form soon, he'll have missed out on tens of millions of dollars.