The Boston Red Sox were reportedly considering a contract extension for outfielder Mookie Betts last offseason. The latest rumors suggest that may also be the case this time around after his first full MLB season in 2015. But does Boston need to make the move as soon as possible?
Betts, 23, was a fifth-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft. The youngster hit .291/.341/.479 with 92 runs scored, 18 home runs, 77 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 145 games last year and is regarded as one of the best up-and-coming players in baseball.
He's under club control through the 2020 season and won't be eligible for arbitration until after 2017. However, there have been calls to sign Betts to a contract extension despite the fact he's under a bargain rate for the next five years.
Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com is one of those who believe the Red Sox should sign Betts to an extension this offseason, especially since the team's odds of signing star shortstop Xander Bogaerts to a long-term deal before he hits free agency are slim because Scott Boras is his agent (and he almost always waits for his clients to hit free agency to get them a new contract).
"The Red Sox could have gotten Betts signed to, say, a six or seven-year deal, buying out a few arbitration seasons and a year or two of free agency," McAdam writes. "That would have secured a foundational player for the foreseeable future, while likely saving the Sox the headache of costly arbitration seasons and delaying the day when Betts is free to sign elsewhere."
"Time is getting short, and unless there's been some talks already in progress, it would seem too late to get a deal of this magnitude done before spring training gets underway."
It's certainly prudent for big market teams to reward players sooner rather than later. First off, it ends up helping them save money in the long-term and it gives the player financial security. Secondly, it's always good business to ensure hard work doesn't go unnoticed, so an extension would do a lot of good in terms of making Betts happy while saving the Red Sox any issues with future arbitration settlements.
However, there are some who believe it's too early or that there's no rush to ink Betts to an extension. One of those people is Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
"Unless the Red Sox have plans to spend far more down the road than the $200 million they're spending next season, however, the math suggests they'd be better off waiting," he writes.
"For one thing, the Red Sox already have Betts under contractual control for five more seasons. Any extension would buy out at most a year or two of free agency. They have little need for specific cost certainty that rivals with tighter budgets have. They can afford to wait to see what kind of player Betts develops into.
"Most important, however, are the luxury-tax considerations that surround such a contract. Unlike the contract extensions to which Theo Epstein signed a previous generation of young Red Sox stars, an extension for Betts or Xander Bogaerts at this stage would do the Red Sox more harm than good."
"The Red Sox can afford to wait to gather more information on what Betts will become. Given the luxury-tax implications involved, it would be bad business not to."
MacPherson has a good point as well. Yes, Betts is a talented player and is arguably worth an extension right now, but at the end of the day, he's only played 197 MLB games and the Red Sox have troublesome payroll issues, which you can see here. Additionally, while injury concerns are always a paramount issue at any point in a player's career, the Red Sox should at least wait and see how Betts' health holds up over the next two years before he hits arbitration. Those two seasons would buy the Red Sox some time to figure out their future payrolls and further evaluate Betts.
For example, the Texas Rangers signed Derek Holland to a five-year extension with two club options four years before he was eligible for free agency (before the 2012 season). Injury issues have limited him to 16 games in the past two seasons and he endured a bad campaign in 2012.
The San Diego Padres signed Cameron Maybin to an extension four years before he was eligible to become a free agent as well. He was since traded to the Atlanta Braves and is now with the Detroit Tigers, but he played only 256 games in the following three years after the extension with the Pads.
Click here for other notable extensions for pre-arbitration players.
There are good arguments for both sides, so we'll see how the Red Sox handle Betts' situation based on the previously enumerated factors.
