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On a chilly post-snowstorm morning in Boston, there can be no more chilling
Mookie Betts-related words than "exploring all options". And yet,
those are the words used by Boston's Chief Baseball Officer
Chaim Bloom when asked about the situation with the 2018 AL MVP. Mookie will be paid around $28 million in 2020—the final year of his current contract. The Red Sox have tried to re-sign Mookie long-term, but he has resisted—eyeing a lucrative plunge into the free-agent market next Fall. Bloom can still get a long-term deal done—but it would likely have to be in the
Bryce Harper-type stratosphere (or even higher). Think $30-35 million a year over 10-12 years. For a team facing a
John Henry mandate to slash payroll (already the largest in MLB) that's a tall task. One route is to deal away expensive players like
David Price or
Nathan Eovaldi—along with (perhaps) a
Jackie Bradley, Jr. But, still, even the
possibility of losing a player of Mookie's calibre is chilling at best. Particularly on a cold Winter morning.
