Mookie Betts returned to Fenway Park this weekend for the first time since the Red Sox traded him to Los Angeles after the 2019 season.
Betts’ return to Boston was bittersweet. He helped the Red Sox win a World Series but many are left wondering what could have been if he stayed in Boston.
Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz is among them. Ortiz played with Betts for the final two-and-a-half seasons of his career and always knew how special he was.
Ortiz explained why he knows the Red Sox trading Betts was a mistake during his appearance on Audacy’s original podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” over the weekend.
“I think that the minute he went to the Dodgers my emotions shifted a little bit because that guy, he was the perfect franchise boy for an organization like this one,” Ortiz said (14:40 in player above). “Mookie has the personality – I’m not even going to talk about the player because that’s off the charts – and he’s young, very mature. He’s the full package. He is the full package.”
Betts was tremendous during his six seasons in Boston. He hit 139 home runs with 470 RBI while batting .301 in 794 career games with the Red Sox. He won the AL MVP en route to a World Series championship in 2018.
Less than 16 months later, the Red Sox traded Betts to the Los Dodgers primarily due to financial reasons.
Ortiz has no doubt that it’s a decision that the Red Sox regret.
“We know it was a mistake. We know. We know because numbers don’t lie. Numbers don’t lie,” he said. “But that happens. This type of mistake happens sometimes and there’s not much you can do about it.
While the Red Sox let shortstop Xander Bogaerts leave in free agency last offseason, Chaim Bloom was able to lock up Rafael Devers at the hot corner for the foreseeable future.
“Whenever the opportunity comes again, take advantage of it,” Ortiz continued. “Thank God we have the opportunity to have Rafael for years to come around here.”
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