Since the Boston Red Sox traded Mookie Betts five years ago, fans have not gotten over it, and now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the outfielder already has two World Series titles and has been one of the favorites of the West Coast team.
Betts expressed his sincere gratitude to the Dodgers’ management, a team that is looking for one more title in the 2025 season.
Betts had a sensational year in 2024 with a .289 batting average, 19 home runs, 75 RBIs and 75 runs scored in the 116 games he played.
As if that were not enough, Betts won the Silver Slugger award for the seventh time and added his third World Series title, after being crowned with Boston in 2018.
“Thanks to our head office for giving us the opportunity,” Betts said on a podcast, speaking about the way the Angels have strengthened by signing several Japanese stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki.
Mookie made special mention of Ohtani, explaining that the Japanese player’s enthusiasm for playing is an incentive to aspire to another World Series title.
Betts had met Ohtani on a trip to Japan and was one of the most recommended for the Japanese to sign with the Dodgers on a ten-year, $700 million contract.
Ohtani was unable to work as a pitcher in 2024, but at bat he recorded amazing numbers with a .310 average, 54 home runs, 130 runs batted in and an OPS of 1.036.
Yankees far from Dodgers’ aspirations
In the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers played against the New York Yankees in a Fall Classic that had not happened since 1981, which raised expectations beyond what was expected among baseball fans around the world.
The Dodgers easily beat the Manhattan Mules in just five games, and this year it seems that the story is not going to change, and that while the Dodgers have added important reinforcements to their roster, the Yankees have a different story.
And the Bronx Bombers have not only failed to sign the players expected of a team of the New Yorkers’ tradition, but also lost one of their most important players in Dominican Juan Soto, who signed with the Bronx’s neighbors, the New York Mets.