Mookie Betts has never doubted his value, which is why he doesn't regret turning down a $300 million extension from the Red Sox.
Speaking to reporters in a Zoom call on Monday, Betts made it clear that even if his market doesn't end up being what he anticipated pre-pandemic, he's comfortable with saying no to the Red Sox.
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"I don't regret turning down that," Betts said. "Once I make a decision, I make a decision. I'm not going back and questioning myself. I don't worry about that. The market will be what the market is. We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Who knows where that bridge will lead? Of more pressing concern for Betts is staying healthy in these uncertain times. While teammate David Price has already opted out of the season, that's not really an option for Betts, who will lose his service time if he chooses not to play, and thus not be able to enter free agency this fall.
"Free agency is really on the back burner," Betts said. "That'll come. That's nothing that I'm really thinking about right now. Right now, the main concern is (safety). There's a lot going on, we haven't gotten tests back and we don't know who's sick and not sick. There's just a lot going on that needs to be addressed and free agency is not one of those things right now. That will come when it comes."
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Added Betts: "I'm not in the same predicament as someone who can opt out. I'm kind of in a different spot. My decision is obviously going to be different. That's the situation I'm in."
WEEI's Lou Merloni reported that Betts' countered the Red Sox $300 million offer with a 12-year, $420 million proposal. It's hard to imagine that money is going to be there this fall, even for a player as talented as Betts, a former MVP with the Red Sox who's now hoping to lead the Dodgers to a World Series.
"We have to get to the season first," he said. "We've got camps being shut down, people going three or four days without tests. You just don't know what's going on. I know it's hard. I'm not blaming, or saying this, that or the other, I know it's hard. But somebody's got to do it. And we've got to just figure out the right way to do it."