3. Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox, $15.411 million value; $20 million salary
The 2018 American League Most Valuable Player had a nice season, but it was largely overshadowed by his team’s collapse to near-.500 status. It wasn’t Betts’ fault; he batted .296, delivered a .524 slugging percentage and a 135 OPS+.
Betts did finish eighth in the league’s MVP voting, his 6.8 WAR representing the position’s third best. It translated to $12.737 million in on-field value.
He did it while playing 1,273 innings, sixth best and worth $1.583 million. The 10 assists Betts recorded tied for fourth best at the position, amounting to a final $1.09 million in on-field value.
The bottom line confirms Betts’ status as a legitimate star, his actual value trailing only the National League’ two great outfielders.
Betts is a third-year arbitration eligible who is projected to be awarded upwards of $27 million this winter. That’s the number driving discussion in Boston about whether to trade their star outfielder.
Even if he gets the $27 million, Betts will still only be the third highest paid player on the Red Sox roster, behind pitchers Chris Sale and David Price. Here’s some non-news: neither one of those pitchers generated anything approaching Betts’ value…yet that very fact could make their contracts unmoveable and force Boston’s hand on Betts.