If you ask Lou Merloni, there's a reason the Boston Red Sox are actively looking to trade Mookie Betts before the season begins.
The Red Sox avoided arbitration with Betts settling on a one-year, $27 million contract with the outfielder earlier this month.
But that's after Boston failed on several occasions to sign Betts to a long-term contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2021.
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According to Merloni, the two sides weren't even close.
The former Red Sox infielder reported Tuesday on WEEI's "Ordway, Merloni & Fauria" that Boston offered Betts a 10-year, $300 million contract extension following the 2018 season. Betts countered with 12 years and $420 million, according to Merloni, and the deal fell through.
That gap of $120 million marked the third consecutive offseason the Red Sox and Betts were off by roughly $100 million in contract negotiations, citing the eight-year, $200 million offer Betts rejected following the 2017 season and the five-year, $100 million deal he turned down after the 2016 season.
Merloni added he's unsure whether the Red Sox made another offer to Betts this offseason -- but the fact that they're discussing a Betts trade with the likes of the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers should answer that question.
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"They can't get it done," Merloni said on WEEI. "They know they can't get it done. When you go to a guy for three years in a row and you're off by almost $100 million -- in one instance over $100 million -- they know they can't sign him."
The 12-year, $420 offer Betts reportedly seeks is in line with recent major league megadeals: Slightly south of Mike Trout's 12-year, $430 million behemoth but north of Bryce Harper's 13-year, $330 million deal.
Boston reportedly was unwilling to shell out that kind of cash for Betts -- and may lose the former American League MVP because of it.