Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw is Still Baffled That the Red Sox Would Trade Mookie Betts
The Clayton Kershaw that we see after a Dodgers World Series win is unlike any Kershaw that we have seen before. He’s still locked in and he’s still focused on winning ballgames, but he’s different. There’s a little bit of a swagger to him, and he seems much more willing to speak on things he feels strongly about.
One of those things that he feels strongly about happens to be the state of Major League Baseball. The Dodgers pitcher has talked in-depth the last week about how he views teams and what they are trying to do.
Most recently, he spoke with The Athletic’s Molly Knight. Among many things, Kershaw was asked about how crazy it was that the Red Sox traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. Kershaw was ready to answer that one.
All I know is when you have Mookie Betts, when you have Mike Trout, when you have Freddie Freeman, when you have Juan Soto, these guys, you don’t let these guys go. I don’t care what you have to pay them, but if you’re a baseball team, you have to hold on to them. They’re the best players in the game. And there are very few times where it makes sense to me to trade the best players in the game.
Kershaw has been vocal over the last couple of weeks about teams trying to win versus teams trying to save money. In the case of Mookie Betts, the Red Sox were apparently trying to do both. Boston was not in a position where they were going to make a strong push so they shipped him to the Dodgers.
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But the fact that they were willing to trade away one of the top 3 players in MLB is still absolute madness. Sure, they got an okay return for Mookie. And yes, they were able to save ~$27 million. But Betts going to the Dodgers and leading them to the World Series tells you why teams need to keep guys like him around for the long haul.
You heard the man, sign Kershaw to a lifetime deal.
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As much as I can agree with Kershaw, one cannot overlook the possible or more probable point that the player, Mookie in this instance, didn’t want to remain with Boston. IMO, Mookie had no desire to be stuck in Boston, and was elated to have the opportunity to come to an organization like LA, and why he signed a deal for less than Trout.
With what San Diego did this off-season, I think it speaks to their regret of not going for Mookie last year with a Trout-like deal, and then could have waited on the Tatis’ extension when the Hosmer money was off the books.
Of the great “infield” (Garvey,Lopes,Russell,Cey) back in the day only Russell stayed. Why it’s a fairly easy answer most people don’t know. It’s called “The AGENT”. Look who negotiated their contracts. Agents negotiated Garvey, Lopes and Cey, and Bill Russel negotiated his own it’s said.
True that, and because of Boras, who’s the agent for Seager, this may be the last year we see Seager in a Dodger uniform.
When Kershaw says “I don’t care what you have to pay them, but if you’re a baseball team, you have to hold on to them”, I think in part, he is speaking of himself as a Dodger. And I totally agree with him, as long as he doesn’t make outlandish demands. He should stay a Dodger.
It didn’t seem like he wanted to stay in Boston. Him saying I thought I’d be a Red Sox forever sounds like BS to me. He wanted that Hollywood lifestyle!