It's not every day a team gets to pay an MVP-caliber player $950,000 a season, but that's exactly what Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts will earn in 2017, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports.
Surprisingly enough, that figure is the second-highest one-year deal ever handed out to a non-arbitration-eligible player, behind only Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who received a $1-million deal in 2014 before winning his first of two MVP awards.
Players with less than three years of major-league experience have no say in their salary figures, which are determined by the organization. The minimum is $550,000, and Betts' 2016 salary was $566,000, so this is a pretty good raise.
The Red Sox were surprised by Betts' early reluctance to come to a long-term agreement, according to Mike Cole of NESN, but both sides admitted there was no bad blood after negotiations fell apart.
"That was his choice, and we just couldn't come up with a number that he thought was the right number for him," Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said. "It was significantly above the minimum. We didn't feel like there were any animosities involved. He just had a different number in mind than we had, so we just couldn't come to an agreement."
Betts echoed those thoughts.
"I'm not Mike Trout or any of those other guys," Betts said, according to Nightengale. "I can't worry about what they did. I can only worry about myself.
"Like I said, there is nothing bad, nothing going on. I still love everybody the same."