Mookie Betts is good at baseball … Hall of Fame good.
What’s more, the 32-year-old Nashville, TN native and fifth-round draft pick in 2011 out of Overton High School in Nashville by the Boston Red Sox is a Hall of Fame-worthy outfielder and a Hall of Fame-worthy infielder, of which there have been very few in the 156-year history of the game.
When former (and extremely popular) Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner declined his option to return to the Dodgers following the 2022 season choosing instead to become a free agent, it forced newly appointed Dodgers Executive Vice President and General Manager Brandon Gomes to move (then) 31-year-old Max Muncy from the middle infield (and first base) to the hot corner which, in turn, forced Gomes to bring six-time Gold Glove-winning Betts back into the infield as his occasional second baseman and occasional shortstop.
During the 2023 season, Betts appeared in 107 games as the Dodgers right fielder, 70 games as their second baseman, and 16 games as their shortstop, where he posted alien-like 1,000, .991, and .935 fielding percentages respectively. (Did I mention that Mookie Betts is a future Hall of Famer?).
(SportsNet LA)
(Gregory Fisher)
As Dodgers fans well know, their beloved team signed All-Star outfielder Michael Conforto to a one-year / $17 million contract this past Sunday with the assumption that the 31-year-old Seattle, WA native and first-round draft pick in 2014 out of Oregon State University will serve as the Dodgers (near) every day right fielder.
So where does future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts go? A no-brainer; Mookie will be Dodgers manager Dave Roberts‘ (near) every day shortstop and will occasionally spell 27-year-old Gavin Lux at second base, with Muncy serving as his (near) every day third baseman. Not a bad problem to have, right?
“He’s ready for the challenge,” Gomes said of Betts on Monday from the MLB Winter Meetings currently underway in Dallas, TX. “He feels like, with a full offseason, he can go and tackle that. Like we’ve said before, he’s one of the guys that I certainly wouldn’t bet against.”
“Right now, as the roster is kind of where it’s at, continues to give us a lot of flexibility,” added Roberts. “It’s an easy bet to bet on him with the full offseason. … Obviously, there’s some things that can change, but all the confidence in Mookie.”
It is indeed easy to ‘bet on Betts’ as the Dodgers new (old) shortstop.
…or wherever he plays.
Play Ball!
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