December 20th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Baseball is a very generational thing. Ask any 70-year-old who their favorite Dodger is/was and you’ll hear names like Reese, Snider, and Campanella. Ask a 60-year-old and you’ll hear names like Wills, Gilliam, and Davis (both of them). Ask a 50-year-old and you might hear ‘The Infield’ of Lopes, Russell, Garvey, and Cey.
But when it comes to the greatest Dodgers of all time, that list is both very very short, and very, very consistent – Robinson, Koufax, Drysdale, Kershaw, and a small handful of others; that’s it.
You can add another name to that very, very short, and very, very consistent list: Markus Lynn ‘Mookie’ Betts.
On Saturday evening, the 28-year-old Nashville, TN native and fifth-round draft pick in 2011 by the Boston Red Sox out of Overton High School in Nashville was named Sports Illustrated’s Player of the Year; this to go along with his five Gold Gloves, four Silver Slugger Awards, four All-Star selections, MLB MVP award, MLB batting title, and, of course, (now) two World Series rings. In other words, future Hall of Famer.
(Click on image to view video)
Betts was acquired by the Dodgers on February 10, 2020, along with David Price and cash, in exchange for popular rookie outfielder Alex Verdugo and Dodgers top minor league prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. He then signed a 12-year / $365 million contract extension with the Dodgers on July 22, 2020 – the single largest contract in MLB history.
But let’s be honest here. When Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman signed the (now) Sports Illustrated Player of the Year to this insane contract extension (in the middle of the worst pandemic the world has seen in over a century) that would take the 5′-9″/180-pound right-handed-hitting and throwing outfielder into his age-40 season, there wasn’t a Dodger fan on the planet – regardless of generation – who didn’t think that this was the worst signing in the 151-year history of the franchise.
Funny, you don’t seem to hear that much anymore, do you?
(Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)
“Winning a championship is super, super special, you can’t ever change that,” Betts said (via video) when accepting his prestigious award on Saturday evening. “For me, this is what I came here for, this is why you traded me here, so I had to accomplish that. That was my feeling instead of just winning the World Series.
“One day I want to say an acceptance speech into the Hall of Fame,” Betts added. “Hall of Famers don’t take years off; they don’t take days off. I have 12 more years and however many more games I have to play and be ready each and every game to get to that point.”
There’s your – our – generational player, Dodger fans … and another name on that very very short, and very, very consistent list.
Play Ball!
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Posted in 
Great to have Mookie here for this decade. Dodgers on solid path to win another Championship.
Mookie is stellar human being on and off the field. Very excited he’s in Dodger Blue for 12 more years! Hard to doubt he’ll do everything he can to win a few more rings.
Since Mookie is locked up. Time to sign Seager and Turner and set this team up for a Championship Run
Bringing Turner back and extending Seager would make this Dodger fan think all Dodger fans were on Santa’s “nice list”!
Seager may be a career shortstop. Cal Ripken was big for SS and he played most (maybe all? I haven’t looked at his stats in a while) of his career there. It would take work, but he showed he’s dedicated, especially when he was finally healthy last off-season. Even if he does eventually move to third base, he’s well worth locking up for a long time for a lot of money. LA should have the payroll capacity for multiple top tier stars.
I liked the signing when it happened. My thinking at the time was that Mookie had a great attitude, an excellent body type and the athleticism factor to avoid major injuries as he aged. Factor that in with his competitiveness and maturity and I had reason to believe he would be beneficial for a majority if not all of the contracts duration. Nothing is full-proof, but you have to take calculated risk in life and baseball. I’m sure the Dodgers have hedged the bets with lots of insurance and have the skill-set to maneuver if it fails. I’m not a financial genius, but Friedman is, so I trust his instincts on this. I want him to do it again though.
Mookie was fabulous in 2020. But if you look up the stats, Seager may have been better, if you count the World Series as the pinnacle of baseball achievements. Seager wins the battle.
I enjoyed the article and appreciate the time put in scripting it.
I had read about Betts as a ball player, and watched him play in highlights, but until you watch him day in and day out you cannot fully appreciate the talent, athleticism, and genius level baseball IQ of this player. Then you see that Betts is a MVP off the field as well (Most Valuable Person). Trading him to the Dodgers was the second worst decision in the Red Sox history; selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees is still no. 1. I firmly believe that the Dodgers will be making a similar bad decision as the Red Sox if they somehow allow Corey Seager to leave.
During his presser on Thursday, Roberts said that during Spring Training 1.0, Betts would often come into his office to run ideas and suggestions past him. I mean, who does that?
The answer, of course, is that an All-Star player (and person) and future Hall of Famer does.
I agree, SCB, Boston trading Mookie Betts to the Dodgers on February 10, 2020, ranks right up there with the Yankees trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees on January 5, 1920 … especially if the Dodgers win several World Series titles as a result.