Red Sox sign Betts to reported arbitration-record $27M deal

The Boston Red Sox and outfielder Mookie Betts have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract, the club announced Friday.

Betts' pact is worth $27 million, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The reported money breaks the arbitration-eligible record set by the Colorado Rockies and Nolan Arenado, who agreed to a one-year, $26-million deal last winter. Arenado and the Rockies later agreed to an eight-year, $260-million contract during the ensuing spring training.

Though Betts and the Red Sox agreed to the deal prior to an arbitration hearing, the contract is considered a product of the arbitration process.

Betts was projected to earn $27.7 million in his third and final year of arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

The 27-year-old is one season removed from claiming American League MVP honors. The four-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner hit .295/.391/.524 over 150 games in 2019, finishing eighth in MVP voting.

Betts' name has appeared in trade rumors this winter as the Red Sox attempt to cut salary and get beneath the luxury-tax threshold under new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.