I swear this Red Sox season has been a roller coaster ride. Every time you can start feeling good about something, another thing goes wrong. Then when something goes wrong, they pull you back in with something good happening, and around and around it goes.
So now, with the Sox having won five of their last six and moving to just two games back of the Yankees, things were looking up. Yea, I know they haven’t been facing great competition in the Tigers and the Phillies, but wins are wins. They’ve gotten a couple walk offs and Mookie Betts has caught fire. Let’s keep it rolling, right?
Wrong. Speaking of Mookie Betts, reports came out via Jon Heyman that Betts turned down all of Boston’s advances this offseason when trying to negotiate a long-term deal. Apparently, Betts wants to go year-to-year right now like most younger players because the risk is much smaller and he’ll have the ability to change his mind if he pleases.
This scares me though as a Sox fan. By all accounts, it seems that Betts likes playing here in Boston, but who really knows? What is his relationship like with the front office and the coaching staff, in particular John Farrell? Does he like the direction the team is going or is he not happy with how the organization is being run? No one really knows and that should give Sox fans anxiety.
Betts is our best player, make no mistake about that. I’ve argued that he might be the best in the league, and I think there is a strong case for that. The Sox need to find a way to get a deal done with him so that they can have him locked up for the future. Give him whatever he wants, because he’s the piece to build around. When David Ortiz retired, he handed the keys over to Betts as the next great Red Sox player. He simply can’t get to free agency, because the thought of losing him is actually excruciating.
