On the heels of a historic season, Mookie Betts will receive a historic salary bump: According to multiple major league sources, Betts and the Red Sox agreed to a one-year, $20 million salary for the American League MVP, the largest salary ever conferred upon a second-time arbitration-eligible player.
The $20 million figure represents a record for a player who is arbitration-eligible for the second time. Betts’s salary increase of $9.5 million — after receiving a $10.5 million salary last year — represents the largest raise ever for a player who had already been in his arbitration years.
The salary marks the first time in three years that Betts and the Red Sox have been able to come to an agreement on his salary for the following season.