Christian Yelich Contract With Brewers Should Further Embarrass Red Sox Over Mookie Betts Trade
The Milwaukee Brewers signed Christian Yelich to an extension worth over $200 million Tuesday. The argument that small market teams can't spend money has proven to be a farce, at least in some cases.
The Brewers enter 2020 with the No. 22 overall payroll in baseball. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox acted as if there was no way in which the team could sign Mookie Betts to a new deal. The Red Sox are spending nearly $90 million more than the Brewers this season.
Christian Yelich was the NL MVP in 2018, & the runner-up in 2019, averaging .327/.415/1.046, 40 HRs, 104 RBIs, 174 hits over those seasons.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 3, 2020
His new contract extension with the #Brewers pays him $27M a year (new $), which ranks 16th in #MLB.
He’s already underpaid. pic.twitter.com/7HfS3fAoac
Yelich is arguably being underpaid, but that makes sense given the market size of the Brewers. He clearly wanted to stay and is still earning a fortune.
The Red Sox have much more capacity to spend and tried to act like they could not retain Betts. Most fans know that is a ruse on the part of ownership. If the Brewers are giving someone $27 million annually, the Red Sox could easily give Betts anywhere from $30-35 million per year.
Boston Red Sox, Mookie Betts trade: ‘The idea he’s no longer here is one that we just didn’t believe was necessary,’ Tony Clark says https://t.co/x6eUhnf1iM
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) February 25, 2020
The Red Sox almost seem to have spooked themselves after handing out so many bad contracts, yet Betts is clearly a star and should not have been traded away. The Brewers realized that was true with Yelich and made sure he will be around for the next decade.
Major markets have a clear advantage in MLB. The Red Sox have never been strapped for cash and bad deals like the one handed out to David Price should not lead the team to trade its actual stars.
This is where the business side comes in and frustrates fans. However, the Brewers are viewing Yelich as an investment and it should pay off. The Red Sox, meanwhile, just want to make even more money.