Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts lines out to center field during the fourth inning of an exhibition baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday, July 19, 2020, in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)LOS ANGELES Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers struck baseball's first big-money deal since the coronavirus pandemic decimated the sport's economics, a $365 million, 12-year contract on Wednesday through 2032 that removes the top offensive player from next offseason's free-agent class.
Betts had agreed to a $27 million, one-year deal with the Red Sox, a salary that has been reduced to $10 million in prorated pay because of the shortened season.
His deal is baseball's second-largest in total dollars behind the $426.5 million, 12-year contract for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout covering 2019-30.
Betts' average salary of $30.42 million trails Gerrit Cole ($36 million), Trout ($35.5 million), Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon ($35 million each), Zack Greinke ($34.4 million), Justin Verlander $31.3 million), and new teammates Price and Clayton Kershaw ($31 million each).