Mookie Betts Explains Why He Views Upcoming Free Agency as a 'Business'

The Boston Red Sox endured a major World Series hangover in 2019, as the reigning champs fell far short of sniffing a postseason berth.

While the organization certainly has A LOT of issues to sort out prior to next year, an impending predicament is the contract extension dilemma surrounding franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts.

Betts is a free agent following the 2020 campaign, and he recently made comments which suggested that he's already made up his mind about testing those waters. It's long been known that the 2018 AL MVP is approaching this offseason from a business perspective and the 26-year-old finally opened up about that mindset.

Mookie has always cited how this is going to be a business decision. It was interesting to hear him explain how that approach was born. https://t.co/tD9OfVgT97
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) September 26, 2019

"It’s nothing new. It’s just a bigger amount of money," Betts told WEEI Sports Radio Network. "It’s the same thing. The perception is that he hates it here and that stuff. Those are all emotions. Put that all to the side. Just focus on business."

"Fans and media get caught up in emotions and that’s just not how I was raised and that’s just not what my point of view with my agents is. We take emotions out of it and we focus on the business part. Of course, I love it here. This is all I know. But you also have to take that emotional side out of it and get to what is actually real," he continued.

Mookie Betts contract: Boston Red Sox star once considered extension offer but then ‘took the emotion out of it’ (report) https://t.co/rJC6v7i3Se
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) September 26, 2019

Betts' free agency will be first and foremost a business decision. He admitted to having given thought to signing an extension with the Sox, rather than test the open market, but decided to remove emotion from his decision-making.

It's evident that the four-time All-Star is trying to burn as few bridges as possible by stating his love for the city of Boston and the Red Sox organization, but you don't have to read between the lines to come to terms with the fact that he will join the team that offers him the most lucrative contract.

That puts the proverbial ball in the Boston's court. They could either cough up the money to keep one of the game's best players in town or save the funds to bolster other areas of need. Either way, they face one of the most difficult decisions in franchise history this offseason.