It was already a great day to be a baseball fan in general with the start of the 2020 MLB season just 24 hours away…but now it’s an incredible day for Dodgers fans in particular. Of course, I’m referring to the 12-year, $365 million extension Mookie Betts just signed with the Dodgers this afternoon. I’ll be the first to admit that the rich just got richer, being that the Dodgers already have a stacked lineup that features reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger, alongside All-Stars Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Joc Pederson, and Max Muncy. However, as great as those guys are, nothing is promised in this league. That’s why when you have the opportunity to sign one of the top three players in baseball, you do so.
Since this news broke I’ve seen a lot of people say that the Dodgers are just buying a championship team, that they have an embarrassment of riches, that they don’t really need Mookie. Do these people have a point? Maybe. Do I think they’re just jealous? Absolutely.
Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane. The Dodgers traded for Yu Darvish in 2017, bolstering their starting rotation that already included Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, and Hyun-Jin Ryu. They won the N.L. Pennant, and you know the rest. Fast forward to 2018…the Dodgers trade for Manny Machado, adding another solid bat to a lineup that features most of the stars currently on their roster. Once again, they won the N.L. Pennant, but you know how that October ended. My point here is that it is really fucking hard to win the World Series, even if you have the best team on paper. This isn’t basketball, where one player can win you a championship. Baseball (usually) has a grueling 162-game schedule in which every single player down to the last guy in the bullpen needs to contribute in order to win a championship.
Now, will the Dodgers win more games with Mookie Betts in their lineup vs. without him? Yeah, probably! All I’m trying to say is that his addition doesn’t guarantee a championship. And until the Dodgers do win a championship, I don’t want to hear it.
Now that I’ve dealt with the haters, I just want to say that this was undoubtedly the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in at least five months, and arguably the best Dodgers moment since Puig’s homer in the 2018 World Series. I’m still so caught up in Betts’ signing that I’m not even considering what this means for other expensive Dodgers like Bellinger, Seager, Kershaw, and Turner, (who are all due to get paid soon), or whether or not I think we’ll even finish this baseball season once it starts. I’m just enjoying the moment and hoping there isn’t an opt-out clause after three years or some shit.
Regardless of who you root for, just be excited that baseball is back in our lives as of 7 P.M. EST tomorrow and that hopefully, you’re not a Red Sox fan.
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