Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman Doesn’t Believe Mookie Betts Gets Enough Credit When It Comes To His ‘Selflessness’
Just when we thought Mookie Betts couldn’t do more to help the Dodgers win, he agreed to become the shortstop for the team just weeks before the start of the season. But this is who Betts is and he is willing to do whatever it takes to help win games.
Moving from the outfield to second base was a sacrifice for Betts, but he at least had all offseason to train for the full-time shift. But now only having a few weeks to learn an entirely new position, Betts is taking his leadership to the next level.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Freidman spoke with our very own Doug McKain in Korea. He spoke about Betts and how he believes the Dodgers star doesn’t get enough credit for his “selfless” attitude toward the team.
“His mindset when we went to him on this, just like it was last year vs righties, we need you to play second and vs left, we need you to kick out to the outfield, that’s what puts us into position to win the most games, he said ‘I’m all in’. You don’t find many players like that, just the selflessness and how much that permeates our whole organization. I just think he’s not fully appreciated but the athlete and the desire to win are so incredibly high, I definitely wouldn’t bet against him.”
Per Andrew Friedman via The DodgersNation YouTube Channel
Betts has shown time and time again that he is the ultimate team player and he backs it up with his play on the field. It may take some time for him to get accustomed to being the full-time shortstop, but Friedman isn’t too worried about him.
“I’ve learned to never bet against Mookie in any way. But I don’t know that enough appreciation is out there about Mookie, a player of that magnitude, a player on that contract doing anything and everything he can to help the team win.”
Per Andrew Friedman via The DodgersNation YouTube Channel
Nobody knows how long the Betts experiment at shortstop will last, but his willingness to move positions again shouldn’t be underappreciated. There is a reason why Betts finished in second place among the NL MVP voting last season, and he is showing again his determination to win.
The Dodgers will move forward with their new infield alignment for now, but none of this would be possible without Betts leading the charge.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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