Mike Trout’s Insane New Deal Has A Major Affect On Mookie Betts

If you missed it, Mike Trout signed a massive deal yesterday with the Los Angeles Angels. In fact, it was the biggest in American sport history at $430 million over 12 years. I know it’s bananas.

As a person living in the New England area my first thought on the deal was, “What the hell are the Red Sox going to pay Mookie Betts?”. Betts is the reigning American League MVP and has been a superstar ever since coming up to the big leagues. The right fielder is often compared to Trout just based on how good both are.

Now with Trout’s deal, even more comparisons are going to be made. Betts has already said that he will not sign an extension before hitting the open market, so Boston will have to be competition. Betts will definitely ask for a deal similar to Trout, and with more teams in the bidding his price will continue to rise.

Boston knew that it was going to have to pay Betts a boatload of cash, but Trout’s massive extension forces them to look at the entirety of their roster. If they want to keep Betts they may have to let the likes of Chris Sale walk in free agency after this season. Are they willing to do that? Only time will tell but it will be interesting to see who the organization decides to pay as contracts continue to run their course.

-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)