Boston Red Sox

Chaim Bloom: Mookie Betts in opening day lineup is ‘expectation’

In a time of turmoil for the Red Sox, Mookie Betts remains a constant.

Mookie Betts will play on Opening Day, Chaim Bloom said Wednesday. 2014 File/Kathy Willens/Associated Press

There are a lot of questions with the Red Sox right now – most notably, who will manage a team whose position players report in exactly a month? – but one was laid to rest by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom Wednesday.

As reported by MLB.com’s Ian Browne, the plan is for Mookie Betts to play in Toronto when the Red Sox open their season on March 26.

“That’s really been my expectation all along,” Bloom said. “I think big picture, and this applies to everything, we’re not doing our jobs if we’re not open to anything that improves our chances to compete as successfully and as often as possible over the course of the next decade.

Advertisement:

“That has kind of been our guiding principle as we have accessed interest in any of our players. But you that with the expectation that they will be here. And that will certainly be the case with Mookie.”

The four-time Gold Glove winner agreed to a one-year, $27 million contract last week to avoid arbitration before he enters free agency after 2020, which he plans to explore.

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com