Why Mookie Betts enjoys watching Red Sox games years after getting traded
"As quiet as it's kept, I enjoy watching Red Sox games."
The Red Sox have a fan in one of their former stars.
In an appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast, Mookie Betts admitted that he watches Red Sox games. The reasoning for it, though, might be a bit unconventional, sharing why he watches his former team when he was asked to name five players casual fans should watch.
“As quiet as it’s kept, I enjoy watching Red Sox games … because of Cora,” Betts said, referring to the Red Sox’ manager. “I love Alex Cora and I enjoy watching Red Sox games.”
Betts continued to say that he enjoys watching Red Sox games, but he re-litigated the discussion about his departure from Boston in doing so. The former Red Sox star wanted to make it clear, though, that he didn’t have any ill will toward people in the organization.
“People think I hate it. People think I didn’t wanna be there and that was all a facade,” Betts said. “Like, it’s still business. Business is business. You have to be able to separate business from personal.
“Now, being personal and my personal relationship with Boston, as I said, I loved it, absolutely loved it. I still talk to front office people there and to AC (Cora). I loved it. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love where I’m at now. I love David Roberts, being a Dodger, and being a Dodger has probably been the best thing that’s ever happened to my life.”
Of course, the Red Sox traded Betts to the Dodgers in February 2020, right as he was entering the final year of team control. Betts wound up signing a 12-year, $365 million extension with Los Angeles in July 2020.
“You cannot blend the two,” Betts said of separating his emotions with the business element when asked about his departure from Boston. “You just cannot do it. As bad as I want to, you can’t do it. Once you try to do it, that’s when not the best things happen. Not necessarily bad things, but not the most optimal, either. And for the best outcome for Mookie Betts and his family, I had to take care of business.
At the time of the trade, it was believed that Betts planned to hit free agency at the end of the 2020 season. It was rumored that the Red Sox had previously offered him a 10-year, $300 million extension to remain in Boston. In 2023, Betts told The Boston Globe‘s Peter Abraham that such an offer wasn’t on the table.
More recently, former Red Sox executive Zack Scott shared that the team made their final offer to Betts ahead of the 2019 season, claiming the offer was worth nearly $300 million. As Betts wound up signing an extension with the Dodgers amid future uncertainty due to the COVID pandemic, Scott believed that Betts would’ve signed an extension had the Red Sox met the same price.
Regardless of how Betts’s time in Boston ended, it’s clear that he still has a relationship with some notable still in the Red Sox’ organization. Cora shared ahead of Betts’s return trip to Boston in 2023 that the two still communicate at least a few times each month.
“Emotionally, I loved it, man,” Betts said of his time in Boston.
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