Red Sox Fans and Writers Need to Stop Spreading BS and Pretending Mookie Betts Doesn't Like Boston

Don't you just love when irrational fans (and sometimes pundits) throw caution to the wind and establish false narratives surrounding star players just because said player is refusing to commit to a franchise that's refusing to afford to compensate his MVP-caliber efforts?

It's exasperating and equally exhausting, and that's exactly what's been transpiring with Mookie Betts, a player who is heavily-linked in trade rumors, and likely to find a new home come Spring Training.

What type of beautiful smear campaign do you have for us, Boston media?!

Here's a level-headed take: Betts shouldn't, for a second, consider signing an extension with the Red Sox. For starters, he's ever-conscious of his ties to the MLB Players Association.

Inking a lucrative extension would just initiate further predicaments from a labor perspective. That's probably the last sort of blood that Betts wants on his hands. And what is the former AL MVP's reward for looking out for the betterment of his colleagues? Being utterly eviscerated by Beantown natives and Red Sox writers.

It's really no surprise that Betts and Boston are as drastically distant in reported contract negotiations as they are. He likely knows the sum that the Sox can meet, due to their luxury tax-imposed restrictions, and is purposely valuing himself far beyond that figure.

There's a "hometown discount," and then there's whatever you'd call a $100 million disparity, which is where Betts and Boston currently are. He's a $400 million player. They'd like to pay him $300 million. That won't fly, no matter how much he loves the city.

Whatever the case, let's stop making Betts out to be a villain. Not only is it farcical, but his play across the last six seasons deserves so much more.