MLB: Five players the game needs to market moving forward

By David Hill | Sep 6, 2020

SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 06: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels runs back on the field for the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 6, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The Angels beat the Mariners 6-1. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Mookie Betts

There are fewer black players in MLB than there have been in decades. And the league has the perfect player to solve that.

If Mike Trout is not the best player in the game, Mookie Betts may be. he has blossomed into one of the best all around players in the game, a four time All Star who has also captured four Gold Glove awards and has won four Silver Sluggers. Betts was the 2018 AL MVP and finished second in 2016. There does not seem to be anything that he cannot do.

Betts also has a distinct advantage. He has played in two of the biggest markets in the game, starting his career in Boston before being dealt to the Dodgers. With his 12 year extension in hand, he will be a fixture on one of MLB’s premier franchises.

He can also fix a problem in the game. Black players comprise only 7.8% of the number of players in the game. Three teams did not have any black players on their Opening Day roster, and 14 teams had two or fewer. It is something that MLB wants to correct, and they have the perfect player for that in Mookie Betts.

They just need to market him and give young black kids a superstar to look up to on the diamond.

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