MLB Rumors: Mookie Betts Might Never Play For Los Angeles Dodgers After Trade With Boston Red Sox

It’s a real possibility that there won’t be a 2020 MLB season, an outcome that would be devastating for everyone involved in professional baseball. A few teams might miss their best chance to win a championship, while players will lose millions of dollars each and potentially lose out on the opportunity to earn lucrative contracts in free agency.

Perhaps no player would better highlight the consequences of a lost season than Mookie Betts. Not only is the superstar in the final year of his contract and one of the sport’s highest-paid players, but he was traded just prior to the start of spring training.

In a three-team deal that involved the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox sent Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers. L.A. traded young outfielder Alex Verdugo along with minor-leaguers Jeter Downs and Connor Wong to Boston.

The trade was supposed to make the Dodgers the overwhelming favorites to win the National League pennant and effectively end the Red Sox’s chances of being a top contender in the American League. If there isn’t a season, Los Angeles will go another year as the favorites in the NL without winning the World Series.

The Dodgers could also end up trading a few promising players without getting a single game from Betts as a member of the team. Season or not, Betts will be free to sign with anyone this winter.

Even with reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger on the roster, Betts is arguably the Dodgers’ best player. Betts won the 2018 AL MVP award and finished second in the voting in 2016. He’s been an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner in four straight years, averaging 29 home runs, 122 runs scored and 25 steals per season.

Betts has hit .301/.374/.519 since entering the league in 2014.

Those numbers were good enough to earn Betts a $27 million salary in arbitration for the 2020 season. Only 16 MLB players, including Price and Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, were set to make more money this year.

Betts has been eyeing a potentially record-setting contract in free agency. He reportedly turned down a $300 million offer from the Red Sox. It’s certainly been conceivable that the 27-year-old could land a more lucrative deal on the open market.

What kind of offers will Betts get if all 30 owners go an entire season without generating any revenue? Let’s hope that Betts and the Dodgers won’t have to find out.